Defibrillating cardiac constraint

Abstract

Abstract A device for treating cardiac disease of a heart includes a jacket of flexible material defining a volume between an open upper end and a lower end. The jacket is dimensioned for an apex of the heart to be inserted into the volume through the open upper end and for the jacket to be slipped over the heart. The jacket is adapted to be secured to the heart with the jacket having portions disposed on opposite sides of the heart. The jacket is adjustable to snugly conform to an external geometry of the heart and to constrain circumferential expansion of the heart during diastole and permit substantially unimpeded contraction of the heart during systole. A first and a second grid of electrodes are carried on the jacket. The grids are disposed to be in overlying relation to individual ones of the opposite side of the heart when the jacket is secured to the heart. The first and second grids are connectable to a source of a defibrillating waveform.

Inventors

• 👤 Clifton A. Alferness
• 👤 James E. Shapland

Bibliographic Details