Patent ID: 7819797

Claim:
An apparatus for delivering a cardiac harness having an open upper end portion and a length defining a concave internal volume sized to fit around at least a lower portion of an adult human heart, comprising: an elongate body having a proximal portion and a distal portion, said body having a cavity sized to contain said harness in a compacted configuration; a plurality of elongate push rods longitudinally movable with respect to said body, and releasably connectable to spaced-apart locations around the cardiac harness such that advancement of said push rods in a distal direction moves said harness from said compacted configuration in said cavity to an expanded configuration outside said cavity with the push rods defining a concave internal volume having a size at least as large as a size of a lower portion of a human heart from its apex to its atrio-ventricular (A-V) groove with the connections between the push rods and the cardiac harness in an open array supporting the open upper and portion in a generally circular configuration to enable the harness to be slipped, upper end portion first, around the lower portion of the heart with the upper end portion of the cardiac harness positioned adjacent to the A-V groove of the heart, said apparatus further comprising a releasing member which releases the connections between said push rods and said harness upon actuation of said member by a user.