The tricuspid clip is a minimally invasive procedure designed to fix a leaky valve on the right side of your heart without the need for open-heart surgery. Think of your tricuspid valve as a one-way door with flaps that should close tightly to keep blood moving forward; when these flaps don't meet properly, blood leaks backward, which can leave you feeling exhausted or short of breath. To fix this, doctors thread a thin tube through a vein in your leg up to your heart and place a tiny clip—about the size of a clothespin—onto the valve flaps to cinch them together.

This creates a much better seal, significantly reducing the leak while still allowing blood to flow through. Because there is no large incision in the chest, the recovery time is usually very quick, often requiring only a day or two in the hospital, and most patients find they can breathe much easier and have more energy shortly after the procedure.