Patent ID: 7887477

Claim:
A method of treating a patient's heart to improve cardiac function, comprising: (a) inserting a membrane in a collapsed configuration having a plurality of fenestrations and at least one anchor formation connected to the membrane into a left ventricle of the patient's heart; (b) expanding the membrane within the left ventricle of the patient's heart; and (c) securing the membrane with at least one anchor element on the at least one anchor formation within the distal apical region of the left ventricle by inserting the at least one anchor element into a wall of the left ventricle to partition the left ventricle into a main productive portion and a secondary, distal apical non-productive portion, the membrane and the left ventricle wall forming the boundaries of the non-productive portion within the left ventricle, with blood entering the productive portion through a first respective heart valve and leaving the productive portion through a second respective heart valve and with the fenestrations of the membrane being sufficiently large to allow blood flow from the productive portion therethrough into the non-productive portion, but sufficiently small so that thrombus grows within the non-productive portion, wherein the membrane is at least partially absorbed to form a new inner wall of the ventricle.