referring now to the figures and first to fig1 , there is shown a stentless support structure 10 of the present invention in an extended configuration . the valve support 10 includes a first end 12 , a second end 14 and an elongate tubular body 16 extending between the first end 12 and the second end 14 . the elongate tubular body 16 is preferably formed from one or a plurality of braided strands 18 . the braided strands 18 are strands of a super - elastic or shape memory material such as nitinol . the strands are braided to form a tube having a central lumen 20 passing therethrough . in one embodiment , the tubular body 16 is folded in half upon itself such that the second end 14 becomes a folded end and the first end 12 includes a plurality of unbraided strands . the tubular body 16 is thus two - ply . the unbraided strands of the first end 12 are gathered and joined together to form a plurality of gathered ends 22 . the gathered ends 22 may be used as commissural points for attaching a prosthetic valve to the support structure 10 . ( see , e . g . fig2 ). alternatively , as shown in fig1 , the gathered ends 22 may be used as attachment points for a wireform 24 defining a plurality of commissural points 26 . notably , the commissural points 26 are positioned such that , when a valve is attached to the support structure in the extended configuration , the valve is longitudinally juxtaposed with the support structure rather than being located within the support structure . this juxtaposition allows the support structure 10 and valve to be packed into a very small catheter without damaging the delicate valve . this longitudinal juxtaposition may be maintained when the support structure assumes a folded or constructed configuration ( see fig1 for example ), or the valve may become folded within the support structure . fig3 - 6 show the second end 14 emerging from the catheter 28 to expose a first layer 30 . in fig7 , the first layer 30 is completely exposed and has assumed its constructed configuration . notably , the first layer 30 contracts longitudinally when fully deployed . also shown in fig7 is a second layer 32 beginning to emerge from the catheter 28 . as the second layer exits the catheter , the pre - set super - elastic fold inverts the mesh , such that a second , inner layer is formed within the first outer layer . alternatively , the first layer can be deployed against the wall of the vascular structure ( such as an artery , vein , valve or heart muscle ). as the second layer exits the catheter , the physician can aid inversion of the mesh my advancing the deployment system . in another embodiment , the mesh support structure can be advanced in the vasculature such that it is deployed in a reverse direction ( such as deployment through the apex of the heart ventricle or from the venous system ), where the mesh inversion occurs as a result of pulling or retracting the deployment system . in fig1 , the second layer 32 is fully deployed and the third layer 34 is fully exposed , but has not yet been inverted . retracting the catheter 28 , relative to the device 10 , while advancing the catheter 28 slightly , relative to the target site , causes the third layer 34 to “ pop ” inwardly , thereby inverting itself against an inside surface of the second layer 32 , as seen in fig1 . in fig1 , additional material has been ejected from the catheter 28 such that the third layer 34 is fully expanded against the second layer . one skilled in the art will realize that numerous additional layers can be achieved in this manner , and that each layer adds additional radial strength to the resulting support structure 10 . throughout the deployment process , the stentless support structure 10 emerges from the delivery catheter 28 gradually . this characteristic also allows the structure 10 to be pulled back into the delivery catheter 28 , in the event that it is desired to relocate the support structure 10 . doing so causes the support structure 10 to reacquire its extended configuration . having described the mechanics of building a support structure in situ , attention can now be turned to various embodiments made possible by the present invention . fig1 - 15 show a support structure 10 having many layers 38 and a first end 12 with numerous gathered ends 22 formed from unbraided strands . some of the gathered ends 22 are attached to a wireform 24 having three commissural points 26 . a prosthetic valve 36 , either harvested or manufactured , is attached to the wireform 24 . fig1 shows the internal lumen 20 of the support structure 10 . fig1 - 18 show a support structure 10 having fewer layers 38 and a wireform 24 with a prosthetic valve 36 attached thereto . the first end 12 ( hidden ), to which the wireform 24 is attached , has been preformed to fold inwardly upon deployment . thus , the wireform 24 and prosthetic valve 36 , is located in the inner lumen 20 of the support structure 10 when the support structure 10 is in a constructed configuration . fig1 - 21 show a support structure 10 with several layers 38 and a first end 12 preformed to have a smaller diameter than the rest of the layers and the second end 14 , which is folded . the terminal ends of the braided strands at the first end 12 have not been formed into gathered ends . rather , the wireform 24 is attached to the braids . the prosthetic valve 36 is attached to the wireform 24 and has skirting tissue 40 , which is placed around the outside of the end 12 . the skirting tissue 40 may be adhered to the first end 12 . fig2 shows a stentless support structure 10 with a folded end 14 , which has been folded back on itself , and a material 42 trapped between the two layers of the fold . the material 42 is provided to further improve the paravalvular leak prevention and embolic trapping characteristics of the stentless support structure 10 . the material 42 could consist of a non - woven material , woven or braided fabric , a polymer or other material . fig2 shows a stentless support structure 10 that includes a fiber 44 that is larger than the rest of the strands comprising the support structure 10 . thus , fig2 demonstrates that strands of different sizes may be used in the braided support structure 10 without significantly affecting the minimum delivery size of the device . different sized strands may be used in order to improve strength , provide stiffness , create valve attachment points , provide radiopaque markers , and the like . fig2 - 26 show a stentless support structure 10 that has a first end 12 that has had the unbraided strands trimmed such that they do not extend past the first end 12 of the folded structure 10 . this embodiment may be used to create , preserve or enlarge a lumen . a prosthetic valve may or may not be attached to this embodiment . turning now to fig2 - 36 , a deployment sequence of a preferred embodiment of the stentless support structure 10 is shown whereby a clear piece of tubing 46 is used to demonstrate a targeted location of a native vessel , such as a native valve . in fig2 , the delivery catheter 28 is advanced beyond the targeted valve 46 and the stentless support 10 is starting to be ejected from the catheter 28 . in fig2 , enough of the stentless support 10 has been ejected that the second , folded end 14 has begun to curl back on itself slightly , forming a cuff 48 . in fig2 , the cuff 48 is more visible and has assumed its full , deployed shape . the cuff 48 acts as a catch that a physician can use to visually or tactilely locate the targeted valve 46 and seat the stentless support 10 thereagainst . the cuff also acts to ensure the entire native lumen through the targeted valve 46 is now being filtered by the support 10 . unlike balloon expandable stents , blood flow is not significantly inhibited by the deployment of the stentless support structure 10 . also shown in fig2 is that the first layer 30 has been fully ejected from the catheter 28 , as has much of the second layer 32 . the first layer 30 , being very flexible prior to reinforcement by subsequent layers , is able to conform to any shape of the targeted vessel . the second layer 32 has not yet inverted itself into the first layer 30 . in fig3 , the first layer 30 is deployed , the cuff 48 is acting against the valve 46 , and the second layer 32 has been inverted . in fig3 , material forming the third layer 34 is ejected from the catheter 28 but the third layer 34 has not yet inverted . in fig3 - 33 , the catheter 28 is being advanced to allow the third layer 34 to invert into the second layer 32 . the angle of fig3 shows the relatively low profile created by the first and second layers 30 and 32 , and how little resistance to blood flow is presented by the support structure 10 . in fig3 , the first end 12 has emerged from the catheter 12 , and the gathered ends 22 are showing . a wireform 24 is attached to some of the gathered ends 22 and is nearly completely deployed from the delivery catheter 28 . in fig3 - 36 , the support structure 10 has been completely released from the catheter 28 . fig3 shows the size of the lumen 20 of the support structure 10 . fig3 - 39 show a preferred embodiment 100 of the present invention including a mesh support structure 102 , a wireform 104 and a valve 106 . the support structure 102 differs slightly from support structure 10 , described previously , as it is constructed from a two individual wires 108 . upon completion of the braiding process , the two free ends of the wire are spliced together . as such , there are no free wire ends and the structure can be loaded into a delivery catheter in a single - ply state ( not shown ). in the deployed state shown in the figures , the support structure 102 is folded once to form a two - ply device . the support structure 102 is preferably formed of a memory alloy such as nitinol . the single - wire construction allows the device to be compressed into an extremely small catheter , such as one sized 16 fr or smaller . though the support structure gains rigidity by the two - ply deployed configuration , radial strength is a function of a several factors and can thus be varied widely . first , as with the other embodiments , radial strength may be increased by incorporating more folds or layers into the deployed configuration of the support structure 102 . the three - ply configuration shown in fig3 - 39 is the most preferred configuration because it only has to be folded in on itself twice , making deployment less complicated . second , strength may be increased by using a heavier wire . because the support structure 102 is made from a single - wire , and can thus be loaded into a catheter in a single - ply configuration , a larger diameter wire may be used while maintaining a small diameter elongated profile . support structures 102 have been constructed according to the present invention using single wires having diameters between 0 . 005 and 0 . 010 inches in diameter . preferably , the diameter of the wire is between 0 . 007 and 0 . 008 inches . third , strength may be increased by increasing the braid density . a tighter braid will result in a stronger support . fourth , the strength may be increased by altering the heat setting parameters . super - elastic and shape memory alloys , such as nitinol , attain their deployed shape within the vasculature by being heat set . the wires are held in a desired configuration and heated to a predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time . after the wires cool , they become set to the new configuration . if the wires are later disfigured , they will return to the set configuration upon heating or simply releasing the wires . the force with which a super - elastic or shape memory alloy returns to a set configuration can be increased by modifying the temperature at which the configuration is set , or by modifying the period of time the alloy is maintained at the elevated setting temperature . for example , good results have been attained setting a nitinol support structure of the present invention at 530 ° c . for 7 minutes . stiffer support structures can be made using the same nitinol wire by setting the structure at a temperature other than 530 ° c . or by setting the structure at 530 ° c . for a time other than 7 minutes , or both . the device 100 includes a wireform 104 , to which a valve 106 is attached . the wireform 104 form commissural points 109 separated by arcuate portions 110 . the arcuate portions 110 are attached to an inside surface of the support structure 102 . the commissural points 109 facilitate natural and efficient opening and closing of the valve 106 . alternatively , the valve commissural points can be attached to an outer surface of the support structure ( not shown ). the valve 106 may be any form of prosthetic or harvested biological valve . preferably , as shown in the figures , the valve 106 is a valve having three leaflets . the valve 106 is sutured or otherwise attached to the wireform 104 . preferably , the valve 106 is cut or constructed to include a skirt portion 112 which continues along the length of the support structure 102 in its deployed configuration . although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications , one of ordinary skill in the art , in light of this teaching , can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of or exceeding the scope of the claimed invention . accordingly , it is to be understood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof .
a stentless support structure capable of being at least partly assembled in situ . the support structure comprises a braided tube that is very flexible and , when elongated , becomes very long and very small in diameter , thereby being capable of placement within a small diameter catheter . the support structure is preferably constructed of one or more thin strands of a super - elastic or shape memory material such as nitinol . when released from the catheter , the support structure folds itself into a longitudinally compact configuration . the support structure thus gains significant strength as the number of folds increase . this radial strength obviates the need for a support stent . the support structure may include attachment points for a prosthetic valve .