HEART VALVES

In terms of dimensional analysis, the inspection and measurement of the heart valves frame is equivalent to that of a coronary or a peripheral stent, where dimensions are accurately measured in Regions of Interest defined along the stent according to the design drawing.

SensoINSPECT incorporates additional tools to manually measure angles or radius of curvature on more complex structures that are present in heart valve designs.

Visual inspection in heart valve frames is way more critical than it is in stents given that heart valves are constantly affected by radial force produced by heartbeats after being implanted. As opposed to stents, any micro-crack present on a heart valve frame can evolve into a fracture of one of the struts time after of being implanted, which would be terrible for the patient.
In order to avoid the risk of missing any small defects in the critical areas of the heart valve frame, Sensofar Medical has designed a light sources support for Q vix that allows to accommodate up to 7 light sources to provide a unique combination of bright field and grazing illumination of the device surface. This combination enables the detection of tiny defects that can be seen “shining in the dark” even at low magnifications, while keeping the capability of detection surface defects in the outer and inner surfaces of the devices.