US 20020028981A1
(19) United States
(12) Patent Application Publication (io) Pub. No.: US 2002/0028981 Al
Lau et al. (43) Pub. Date: Mar. 7,2002
(54) EXPANDABLE CARDIAC HARNESS FOR
TREATING CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE
(76) Inventors: Lilip Lau, Sunnyvale, CA (US); Bill Hartigan, Fremont, CA (US)
Correspondence Address:
KNOBBE MARTENS OLSON & BEAR LLP
620 NEWPORT CENTER DRIVE
SIXTEENTH FLOOR
NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92660 (US)
(21) Appl. No.: 09/952,116
(22) Filed: Sep. 10, 2001
Related U.S. Application Data
(63) Continuation ol application No. 09/634,043, filed on Aug. 8, 2000, which is a non-provisional of provisional application No. 60/188,282, filed on Mar. 10, 2000.
(57) ABSTRACT
A cardiac harness for treating congestive heart failure is disclosed. The harness applies elastic, compressive reinforcement on the left ventricle to reduce deleterious wall tension and to resist shape change of the ventricle during the mechanical cardiac cycle. Rather than imposing a dimension beyond which the heart cannot expand, the harness provides no hard limit over the range of diastolic expansion of the ventricle. Instead, the harness follows the contour of the heart throughout diastole and continuously exerts gentle resistance to stretch. Also disclosed is a method of delivering the cardiac harness to the heart minimally invasively.
