Patent attributes
A catheter for the transvascular implantation of prosthetic heart valves, including self-expanding anchorage supports, which allow a minimally invasive implantation of prosthetic heart valves to reduce the risk to the patient during the implantation. A prosthetic heart valve including anchorage supports is temporarily housed in a folded form in a cartridge-type unit during the implantation. The cartridge-type unit can be fixed on the proximal end of a guide system, which includes a flexible region that can be guided through the aorta. Actuating elements run through the interior of the hollow guide system, permitting sections of the cartridge-type unit to be displaced radially about their longitudinal axis and/or laterally in a proximal direction, thus allowing individual sections of the anchorage support and the associated prosthetic heart valve to be sequentially released.
