Tissue grasping devices and related methods

Abstract

A clip for immobilizing leaflets of a cardiac or venous valve includes a hub having a pair of tangle resistant spring-biased outer arms coupled to an inferior end of the hub and a pair of tangle resistant spring-biased inner arms adjacent to the outer arms and coupled to a superior end of the hub. A delivery catheter may be used to position the valve clip adjacent a target valve while the outer and inner arms are biased in an opened position relative to each other. After the valve leaflets are located between the opened outer and inner arms, the biasing forces may be released to allow the clip to self-close the clip over the valve leaflets.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A valve clip comprising
 a hub configured to be removably attached to a deployment shaft;   a first pair of leaf capture arms comprising a first inner arm and a first outer arm coupled to the hub; and   a second pair of leaf capture arms comprising a second inner arm and a second outer arm coupled to the hub;   wherein the outer and inner arms are configured to be biased apart to create a leaf capture space therebetween and to self-close over a valve leaflet when unbiased after the leaflet has been captured.   
     
     
         2 . A valve clip as in  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the leaf capture arms are formed as a leaf spring with a resilient base attached to the hub and a less-resilient valve-grasping element extending from the base. 
     
     
         3 . A valve clip as in  claim 2 , wherein the valve-grasping elements diverge from the base to form a V-shape when the outer and inner arms are unbiased. 
     
     
         4 . A valve clip as in  claim 3 , wherein the base is curved and the valve-grasping element is straight the outer and inner arms pairs. 
     
     
         5 . A valve clip as in  claim 2 , wherein the valve-grasping elements are parallel to a common axis when the outer and inner arms are unbiased. 
     
     
         6 . A system for delivering a valve clip to heart or venous valve, said system comprising:
 a valve clip as in  claim 1 , and   a deployment shaft configured to be removably attached to the hub of the valve clip.   
     
     
         7 . A system as in  claim 6 , further comprising a steerable deployment catheter coupled to the deployment shaft. 
     
     
         8 . A system as in  claim 7 , where an inferior end of the deployment shaft is configured to be coupled to the steerable deployment catheter. 
     
     
         9 . A system as in  claim 7 , wherein a superior end of the deployment shaft is configured to be coupled to the steerable deployment catheter. 
     
     
         10 . A system as in  claim 6 , wherein the steerable deployment catheter includes an imaging component. 
     
     
         11 . A system as in  claim 6 , further comprising a first set of tethers positioned through the delivery catheter and coupled to the outer arms and configured to selectively bias the outer arms into a valve leaflet capture position. 
     
     
         12 . A system as in  claim 11 , wherein the first set of tethers is further configured to selectively unbias the outer arms so that they self-close toward the valve leaflets. 
     
     
         13 . A system as in  claim 11 , further comprising a second set of tethers positioned through the delivery catheter and coupled to the inner arms and configured to selectively bias the inner arms into a valve leaflet capture position. 
     
     
         14 . A system as in  claim 13 , wherein the second set of tethers is further configured to selectively unbias the inner arms so that they self-close toward the valve leaflets. 
     
     
         15 . A system as in  claim 11 , further comprising a first set of tethers positioned through the delivery catheter and coupled to the outer arms and configured to selectively bias the outer arms into a valve leaflet capture position and a second set of tethers positioned through the delivery catheter and coupled to the inner arms and configured to selectively bias the inner arms into a valve leaflet capture position. 
     
     
         16 . A system as in  claim 11 , further comprising a pair of posts reciprocatably coupled to the deployment shaft, wherein the posts engage at least the two lower arms or the two upper arms to selectively open the lower and upper arms into a valve leaflet capture position, wherein the posts are configured to engage an upper surface of each outer arm, wherein advancing the posts in an inferior direction opens the outer arms relative to the inner arms. 
     
     
         17 . A system as in  claim 16 , wherein inner arms are configured to remain stationary as the posts are advanced, wherein the posts are configured to engage a lower surface of each inner arm, wherein advancing the posts in a superior direction opens the inner arms relative to the outer arms, and wherein outer arms are configured to remain stationary as the posts are advanced.