Valve positioning device

Abstract

Medical devices for positioning a valve in a subject's body, such as a prosthetic heart valve in a subject's heart, are disclosed. The prosthetic heart valve may include a valve assembly, a frame, and a control arm. The prosthetic heart valve may include a commissural post or multiple commissural posts. The prosthetic heart valve may include a positional marker on a control arm. The prosthetic heart valve may include multiple positional markers on one or more control arms. The positional markers can be shapes, characters, or other symbols. The positional markers may themselves be asymmetric. The positional markers may be placed in an asymmetric location on a control arm. The control arm may be asymmetrically shaped.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
 a valve assembly;   an expandable frame coupled to the valve assembly, the expandable frame configured to expand within a native valve annulus, the expandable frame including at least two commissural posts, each commissural post being arranged around a central longitudinal axis of the prosthetic heart valve and being configured to align with a native commissure of a native heart valve; and   at least two control arms disposed circumferentially about the expandable frame when the expandable frame is in an expanded configuration, wherein each control arm forms an arc between a pair of commissural posts with a first end attached to one commissural post of the pair of commissural posts and a second end attached to the other commissural post of the pair of commissural posts,   wherein at least one of the at least two control arms is an asymmetric control arm that includes a positional marker between the first and second ends thereof, the positional marker positioned on the asymmetric control arm closer to one commissural post of the pair of commissural posts than to the other commissural post of the pair of commissural posts such that the asymmetric control arm has an asymmetric shape between the first and second ends thereof, the asymmetric shape of the asymmetric control arm being asymmetric relative to the central longitudinal axis of the prosthetic heart valve, and   wherein the asymmetric shape of the asymmetric control arm differs from a shape of all other control arms of the at least two control arms of the prosthetic heart valve.   
     
     
         22 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the positional marker is a geometric shape. 
     
     
         23 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 22 , wherein the geometric shape is asymmetric. 
     
     
         24 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the positional marker is a letter. 
     
     
         25 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the positional marker is at least one bend formed on the asymmetric control arm. 
     
     
         26 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 28 , wherein the positional marker is multiple bends formed on the asymmetric control arm. 
     
     
         27 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the positional marker is welded to the asymmetric control arm. 
     
     
         28 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the expandable frame comprises a first material with a first radiopacity, and wherein the positional marker comprises a second material with a second radiopacity. 
     
     
         29 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the at least two commissural posts comprise a first material with a first radiopacity, and wherein the positional marker comprises a second material with a second radiopacity. 
     
     
         30 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the at least two commissural posts include a first commissural post and a second commissural post, the at least two control arms include a first control arm and a second control arm, the first control arm forms the arc between the first commissural post and the second commissural post, and the second control arm forms the arc between second commissural post and the first commissural post. 
     
     
         31 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 21 , wherein the at least two commissural posts include a first commissural post, a second commissural post, and a third commissural post, and wherein the at least two control arms include a first control arm, a second control arm, and a third control arm, and wherein the first control arm forms the arc between the first commissural post and the second commissural post, and wherein the second control arm forms the arc between second commissural post and the third commissural post, and wherein the third control arm forms the arc between the third commissural post and the first commissural post. 
     
     
         32 . A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
 a valve assembly; and   an expandable frame coupled to the valve assembly, the expandable frame configured to expand within a native valve annulus, the expandable frame including exactly two commissural posts including a first commissural post and a second commissural post, wherein each commissural post is arranged around a central longitudinal axis of the prosthetic heart valve and is configured to align with a native commissure of a native heart valve; and   exactly two control arms disposed circumferentially about the expandable frame when the expandable frame is in an expanded configuration, the exactly two control arms including a first control arm and a second control arm, wherein each control arm forms an arc between the first and second commissural posts with a first end attached to one of the two commissural posts and a second end attached to the other of the two commissural posts, and   wherein the first control arm includes a positional marker between the first and second ends thereof, the positional marker positioned on the first control arm closer to the first commissural post than to the second commissural post such that the first control arm has an asymmetric shape between the first and second ends thereof, the asymmetric shape of the first control arm between the second and first commissural posts being asymmetric relative to the central longitudinal axis of the prosthetic heart valve, and   wherein the asymmetric shape of the first control arm differs from a shape of the second control arm.   
     
     
         33 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 32 , wherein the positional marker is a geometric shape, a letter, or an arrow. 
     
     
         34 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 32 , wherein the first and second commissural posts comprise a first material with a first radiopacity, and wherein the positional marker comprises a second material with a second radiopacity. 
     
     
         35 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 32 , wherein the positional marker is a bend formed on the first control arm. 
     
     
         36 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 32 , wherein the positional marker is multiple bends formed on the first control arm. 
     
     
         37 . A prosthetic heart valve comprising:
 a valve assembly; and   an expandable frame coupled to the valve assembly, the expandable frame configured to expand within a native valve annulus;   a positional marker; and   at least one asymmetric control arm disposed circumferentially about the expandable frame when the expandable frame is in an expanded configuration with a first end and a second end being attached to the expandable frame at circumferentially spaced apart locations, wherein the at least one asymmetric control arm forms an arc between the first and second ends thereof,   wherein the positional marker is attached to the asymmetric control arm between the first and second ends thereof, the positional marker being positioned on the asymmetric control arm closer to the first end than to the second end such that the asymmetric control arm has an asymmetric shape between the first and second ends thereof, the asymmetric shape of the asymmetric control arm being asymmetric relative to a central longitudinal axis of the prosthetic heart valve, and   wherein the positional marker is a geometric shape, a letter, or an arrow.   
     
     
         38 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 37 , wherein the positional marker is a geometric shape and the geometric shape is asymmetric. 
     
     
         39 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 37 , wherein the positional marker is a letter and the letter is asymmetric. 
     
     
         40 . The prosthetic heart valve of  claim 37 , wherein the positional marker is an arrow and the arrow is asymmetric.