Patent ID: 7871366

Claim:
A method of individually modulating the heart volume comprising the steps of: positioning a direct compression cardiac device about at least a portion of a heart, wherein the direct compression cardiac device comprising a resilient inner panel in contact with at least a portion of the heart periphery and at least partially surrounded by an expandable outer panel, wherein the resilient inner panel has a selectively inflatable end-systolic heart shape and at least one inflatable bladder with a heart shaped contoured to surround at least a portion of a heart to provide curvatures similar to the proper shape of the heart when pressurized to compress the heart during contraction without inverting or significantly perturbing the curvatures of the heart, one or more fluid connections in communication with the expandable outer panel and resilient inner panel for pressurization and depressurization; pressurizing the direct compression cardiac device to compress the heart during contraction without inverting or significantly perturbing the curvatures of the heart; and modulating the resistance supplied by the inner panel to the heart to control the end-diastolic heart volume, the resistance supplied by the expandable outer panel to the heart to control the end-systolic heart volume or both.