ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,336,906, issued on June 24, was assigned to Mitrapex Inc. (Tokyo).
"Artificial heart valve" was invented by Minoru Tabata (Tokyo).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "To provide an artificial heart valve capable of aiding the functions of the mitral valve of a patient in a minimally invasive manner. An artificial heart valve 1 which includes a valve leaflet securing part 2 and valve leaflets (a first valve leaflet 5 and a second valve leaflet 7), and in which the valve leaflets are connected to the valve leaflet securing part 2 at the top portion of the artificial heart valve 1, the valve leaflets each have a region which narrows in width towar...