Passive girdle for heart ventricle for therapeutic aid to patients having ventricular dilatation
AssigneeABIOMED, 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.
Claims20
An apparatus configured to provide passive radial resistance to a hypertrophic heart having a circumference and a major axis running from the apex to the top of the heart, said apparatus comprising:
- a wrap member configured to conformingly surround at least a portion of the circumference of the heart when in operable configuration, said wrap member having a constraining material wherein, when said wrap member is in said operable configuration, said wrap member provides a passive sustained dimensional constraint on a heart muscle and wherein said constraining material is adjustable such that it can be configured to resist expansion of the heart beyond one of a plurality of predetermined inner perimeters of said wrap member without resistance to systolic ejection.
An apparatus configured to provide passive radial resistance to a hypertrophic heart, said apparatus comprising:
- a wrap member configured to conformingly surround at least a portion of the circumference of the heart when in operable configuration, the wrap member having a plurality of segments of constraining material that provide, when the wrap member is in said operable configuration, a passive, sustained dimensional constraint on a heart muscle.
An apparatus configured to provide passive radial resistance to a hypertrophic heart, said apparatus comprising:
- a wrap member configured to conformingly surround at least a portion of the circumference of the heart when in operable configuration, the wrap member having a constraining material that provides, when the wrap member is in said operable configuration, a passive, sustained dimensional constraint on a heart muscle;
- and
- a sensor for sensing tension in the wrap member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.