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US 6,585,635 B1Granted
Method and system for pericardial modification
AssigneeCore Medical, Inc.
InventorWilliam N. Aldrich
Life of this patent
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AssigneeCore Medical, Inc.
InventorWilliam N. Aldrich
Estimating the term…
The invention adapts the pericardium for use as a pump bladder having a pump cavity formed by at least a portion of the pericardial space between the parietal pericardium and the visceral pericardium. The pump bladder is inflated to provide a compressive pressure on the heart and deflated to relieve the pressure. The pericardium is modified under conditions to improve the pumping characteristics of the pericardium as a pump bladder. A portion of the parietal pericardium may be attached to a portion of the visceral pericardium to isolate a portion of the pericardial space to form the pump cavity. The pericardium may be treated by stiffening, strengthening, tightening, shrinking, reshaping, or reducing the compliance or elasticity of the pericardium, or any combination thereof. The treatment may be carried out by heating the pericardium, applying a chemical to the pericardium, plicating the pericardium, or any combination thereof.
A method for aiding operation of a heart, the method comprising:
A method for assisting operation of a heart in a patient suffering from congestive heart failure using a pump bladder comprising the pericardial tissue of the heart, said bladder comprising a cavity formed by at least a portion of a pericardial space between the heart's parietal pericardium and visceral pericardium, and at least one of the parietal pericardium and the visceral pericardium being modified to improve the pumping characteristics of the pump bladder, the method comprising:
A method for creating a pump bladder using a patient's heart, the method comprising:
A system for aiding operation of a heart, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.