System and method for providing improved cardiac pump function through synchronization with the natural mechanical contractions of the heart

A method of supporting functionality of a patient's heart with a cardiac support device, wherein said patient's heart has a beating rhythm, an inherent pumping functionality, and a physiological strain profile, said method comprising the steps of:

• determining an optimal strain profile for the patient's heart;
• providing a cardiac support device that contains compartments that expand and contract with changes in pressure;
• providing a valve manifold that is connected to an external pressure source, wherein the changes in pressure within said compartments of said cardiac support device are selectively controlled by operation of said valve manifold;
• placing said cardiac support device in position to affect said patient's heart, wherein said cardiac support device selectively applies mechanical forces externally to said patient's heart that act to compress said ventricles;
• monitoring said patient's heart to determine said beating rhythm and said physiological strain profile;
• operating said valve manifold to create a pressure profile in said compartments of said cardiac support device, wherein said cardiac support device applies said mechanical forces to the patient's heart that are a result of said drive pressure profile-received;
• controlling said valve manifold so that said cardiac support device applies said mechanical forces externally to said patient's heart in synchronization with said beating rhythm so that said mechanical forces applied by said cardiac support device combine with said inherent pumping functionality of the patient's heart to produce a modified strain profile that is closer to said optimal strain profile than said physiological strain profile.