Cardiac reinforcement device
The present disclosure is directed to a cardiac reinforcement device (CRD) and method for the treatment of cardiomyopathy. The CRD provides for reinforcement of the walls of the heart by constraining cardiac expansion, beyond a predetermined limit, during diastolic expansion of the heart. A CRD of the invention can be applied to the epicardium of the heart to locally constrain expansion of the cardiac wall or to circumferentially constrain the cardiac wall during cardiac expansion.
1. A passive cardiac reinforcement device for constraining outward expansion of a heart wall of a patient's heart during diastole, said device comprising:
a jacket for exerting a variable amount of pressure on the heart as a function of an amount of dilation of the heart, the jacket constructed from a biomedical material, said biomedical material being elastic and radiopaque, and said jacket having an apical end and a base end and a predetermined size selected to surround an external surface of said heart.
2. A device according to claim 1 wherein said jacket is sized to constrain diastolic expansion.
3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said material is formed in an open cell construction with a plurality of open cells defined by interconnected, elongated elements.
4. A device according to claim 1 wherein said jacket is sized to be applied to the epicardium of the heart.
5. A device according to claim 1 wherein said jacket is sized to be applied to the pericardium of the heart.
6. A device according to claim 1 wherein the biomedical material that is radiopaque is platinum, titanium, or stainless steel.