Passive girdle for heart ventricle for therapeutic aid to patients having ventricular dilatation
AssigneeAbiomed R & D, Inc.
InventorsDavid M. Lederman, Robert T. V. Kung
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A passive girdle is wrapped around a heart muscle which has dilatation of a ventricle to conform to the size and shape of the heart and to constrain the dilatation during diastole. The girdle is formed of a material and structure that does not expand away from the heart but may, over an extended period of time be decreased in size as dilatation decreases.
Claims8
A method for treatment of a patient, whose heart is characterized by ventricular dilatation comprising the steps of,
- wrapping a girdle around at least the ventricle of said patient's heart, said girdle being wrapped such that it can adjust in size and shape to facilitate a gradual reduction in the size of the heart;
- and
- maintaining said girdle in a passive state for an extended period of time, wherein said girdle in said passive state conforms to the outer shape of said ventricle and does not expand its dimension in a direction away from said natural heart.
A method for treatment of a patient, whose heart is characterized by ventricular dilatation comprising the steps of,
- wrapping a girdle around at least the ventricle of said patient's heart,
- providing a scaffold of biologically inert material on said girdle and generating a wall on said scaffold by application of myocardial cells to said scaffold, said myocardial cells being harvested from said heart, and
- maintaining said girdle in a passive state for an extended period of time, said girdle being formed such that it can adjust in size and shape to conform to the outer shape of said ventricle and to not expand its dimension in a direction away from said natural heart.
A method for treatment of a patient, whose heart is characterized by ventricular dilatation comprising the steps of,
- wrapping a girdle around at least the ventricle of said patient's heart;
- and
- maintaining said girdle in a passive state for an extended period of time, said girdle being formed such that it can adjust in size and shape to conform to the outer shape of said ventricle and to not expand its dimension in a direction away from said natural heart during diastole while offering no resistance to systolic ejection wherein said girdle is formed of a net of interlocking loops, unattached to one another.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.