Myocardial infarction results in an alteration in the elastance (stiffness) of the infarcted region and a loss of contractile function.  This phenomenon drives adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling and leads to heart failure and death. We have demonstrated experimentally that optimizing infarct elastic properties improves contractile LV functions and ameliorates adverse LV remodeling.

The device under development variably alters infarct elastance in-vivo by coupling the infarct to a compliant material.  Theoretically, in passive mode, the device could be optimized for an individual patient and varied over time. In addition, the device could also be designed to provide active assistance during systole by producing local deformation of the infarct region via a motor synchronized to the cardiac cycle.  Therefore, the device can be used to both passively stiffen the infarct and to produce active assistance.