The 3f Enable is a new 3-blade tubular version of the biological 3f valve on a self-expanding Nitinol stent that facilitates its placement.
The Enable valve is manufactured with equine pericardium tissue, with no rigid support, and the clinical results at five years could not be better.
The design takes full advantage of the prosthesis area and provides a smooth flow throughout the valve which means a longer useful life of the valve. It has been shown that the aortic valve works like a tube whose walls collapse during diastole and recovering its tubular form during systole.
The 3f Enable prosthesis is the first surgical aortic valve to be approved for implantation using a technique not requiring suture, known as sutureless valves. It provides the hemodynamic advantages of the 3f tubular prosthesis design and its self-expanding stent allows the valve to be deployed rapidly and in the optimum anatomical position.
The aim of the 3f Enable valve is to replace the aortic valve in the least invasive and as quickly as possible. To achieve that, the valve folds up on a small Nitinol stent that can be implanted using minimally invasive techniques. Once the valve is in place in the aortic ring, the valve is fully opened out. The system reduces the duration of the operation and the side effects of conventional heart surgery, making the 3f Enable the best solution for patients who may not be apt for heart surgery.