Biocompatible ventricular assist and arrhythmia control device including cardiac compression band-stay-pad assembly

A ventricular assist device which can be implanted in a patient user exterior to the heart adjacent at least one ventricle, and which comprises:

• compression band means for surrounding the perimeter of the heart and having a preselected perimeter length when the heart is in a diastolic phase;
• means for shortening the perimeter length when the heart is in a systolic phase;
• and
• force-transmitting means for receiving mechanical energy from said band means as its perimeter length is shortened and transmitting said energy to compress the heart in its diastolic phase.

A ventricular assist device which can be implanted in a patient user, which comprises:

• a contact surface for contacting the heart;
• means for contracting and expanding the contact surface of the assist device;
• and
• an electrically-driven motor attached to said means for contracting and expanding for causing contraction and expansion of said contact surface, said motor further including means for fitting in a natural cleavage plane between the left lung and diaphragm or the left lung and an inside chest wall of the patient.

A ventricular assist device which can be implanted in a patient user exterior to the heart, comprising:

• elongated band means positionable around the entire perimeter of the heart;
• rotatable support means for winding at least a portion of the band means thereon and unwinding the portion of the band means therefrom, the band means being connected to the rotatable support means;
• resilient pad means for engaging the heart and applying pressure thereto in response to movement of said band means;
• means for sensing the systolic and diastolic phases of the heart;
• and
• reversible drive means for rotating the rotatable support means in one direction to wind the portion of the band means thereon and thereby compressing the heart ventricle during a systolic phase thereof, and for rotating the rotatable support means in a reverse direction to unwind the portion of the band means from the rotatable support means, to release the heart during a diastolic phase thereof.

A ventricular assist device for direct mechanical assistance to a heart, which comprises:

• means for sensing systolic and diastolic phases of the heart;
• means for encircling and contracting the perimeter of a surface portion of the heart when the heart is in a diastolic phase;
• and
• resilient means for cyclically shortening and lengthening said encircling means in a perimeter direction during systolic and diastolic phases of the heart, respectively, and for receiving and transmitting mechanical compression force to the surface portion of the heart.