Patent ID: 7824325

Claim:
An anatomically-compatible and physiologically compatible in vivo device for improving diastolic function of either a left or right ventricle of a heart, comprising: at least one air-impermeable sheet that is capable of being operatively connected to an external ventricular surface of the heart by means of one or more connecting elements, wherein said at least one sheet is curved or angled to encompass a volume of space, such that when said air-impermeable sheet is operatively connected to said external ventricular surface of the heart, the air-impermeable sheet and the ventricular surface of the heart are sealed along a peripheral margin of the sheet, and a closed empty space is created between a lower surface of said sheet and said external ventricular surface; such that said at least one air-impermeable sheet is capable of creating a sub-atmospheric pressure within said closed empty space as a consequence of changes in the volume of said space during a course of a cardiac cycle of said heart, thereby exerting an outward and normally directed force on said external ventricular surface of the heart to which said air-impermeable sheet may be connected by means of said one or more connecting elements.