Cardiac assist device, instruments, and methods

1. A cardiac assist device adapted for placement in an incision in an aorta wherein a part of the assist device after placement is in contact with blood passing through the aorta and is inflated and deflated to provide left ventricular assistance, the assist device comprising:

a foldable elongate housing comprising a flexible extra-aortic wall associated with a flexible endo-aortic membrane and without a wholly rigid back, the flexibility allowing the cardiac assist device to be folded without creating a crease, and preserving topologic relationships between a set of components of the cardiac assist device;

a discrete stiffener present within said housing to increase the housing rigidity versus the housing rigidity without the stiffener and defining the outer dimensions thereof, wherein the extra-aorta wall has a rigidity insufficient to independently maintain a shaped configuration sufficient for operation without the stiffener;

an airtight pumping chamber located within said housing and in fluid communication with a region external to said device; and

wherein the flexible endo-aortic membrane has a blood contacting part of the cardiac assist device which, after placement, is in contact with blood passing through an aorta and is inflatable and deflatable to provide left ventricular assistance.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising a percutaneous access device disposed external to said pumping chamber along an access channel.

3. The device of claim 2 further comprising a fluid pump in fluid communication with said pumping chamber along said access channel.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a skirt having a first portion attached to the outer surface of said housing, and a second portion that is unattached to the outer surface of the housing, the unattached area forming a suture ring for attaching the assist device to the aorta of a patient.

5. The device of claim 4 further comprising an overlayer nonadherent to scar tissue on an exposed surface of said skirt.

6. The assist device of claim 1 , wherein said flexible aortic wall and said flexible endo-aortic membrane are curved to generally match the contour of a portion of the aorta.

7. The assist device of claim 1 wherein said membrane edge is preformed and looped with a maximal linear span of curvature that is greater than the maximal transverse linear extent of said support, wherein said housing includes a sufficient amount of fluid to form an air pocket intermediate between the support and said membrane during deflation of said assist device.

8. The assist device of claim 4 associated with a fastener for attaching a cardiac assist device to an aorta, the fastener comprising:

an anvil and a staple magazine, where said staple magazine is removably or fixedly connected to said anvil; and

a deployment mechanism, said deployment mechanism removably or fixedly connected to said anvil or said staple magazine, said anvil or said staple magazine associated with the cardiac assist device prior to deploying the cardiac assist device; and

wherein said association creates an everted anastomotic line when said device is deployed at an aortic wall.

9. The assist device of claim 8 wherein said skirt and said aortic wall are evertable and said association creates an overlap between said skirt and said aortic wall at an anastomotic line when said device is deployed at an aortic wall.

10. The assist device of claim 9 wherein said overlap is formed by the aortic wall overlying at least portion of said skirt.

11. The assist device of claim 9 wherein said overlap is formed by the skirt overlying said aortic wall.

12. The device of claim 1 wherein the stiffener is elliptical or ring shaped.

13. The device of claim 1 wherein the stiffener is an insertable support, the insertable support having a rigidity sufficient to increase the rigidity of the cardiac assist device over that of the extra-aortic wall without the insertable support.