Method and apparatus for modulating cellular growth and regeneration using ventricular assist device
First Claim
1. A system adapted to be coupled to a heart having myocardial tissue and a myocardial infarct (MI) region, the system comprising:
- an implantable agent delivery device containing one or more agents that promote myocardial tissue replacement and adapted to deliver the one or more agents to the MI region, wherein the one or more agents that promote myocardial tissue replacement enhance migration, implantation, or proliferation of stem cells in the MI region and reduce scar formation; and
an implantable ventricular-assist device (VAD) including;
a sensor to sense one or more signals indicative of one or more of a strain of the myocardial tissue and a size of the MI region;
a pump to assist the heart in blood pumping;
a VAD controller coupled to the pump, the VAD controller adapted to control the operation of the pump using the sensed one or more signals for enhancing one or more effects of the one or more agents; and
an agent delivery controller coupled to the implantable agent delivery device, the agent delivery controller adapted to control the delivery of the one or more agents using the sensed one or more signals in temporal coordination with the operation of the pump.
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Abstract
A system delivers combined ventricular assist device (VAD) therapy and chemical and/or biological therapy to modulate myocardial tissue growth in a heart after myocardial infarction (MI). The system includes an agent delivery device to release one or more agents to an MI region to modulate myocardial tissue growth in that region, and a VAD to enhance the effects of the one or more agents by reducing myocardial wall stress and the overall cardiac workload. In one embodiment, the system is an implantable system including an implantable agent delivery device and an implantable VAD for long-term use in a patient.
170 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A system adapted to be coupled to a heart having myocardial tissue and a myocardial infarct (MI) region, the system comprising:
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an implantable agent delivery device containing one or more agents that promote myocardial tissue replacement and adapted to deliver the one or more agents to the MI region, wherein the one or more agents that promote myocardial tissue replacement enhance migration, implantation, or proliferation of stem cells in the MI region and reduce scar formation; and an implantable ventricular-assist device (VAD) including; a sensor to sense one or more signals indicative of one or more of a strain of the myocardial tissue and a size of the MI region; a pump to assist the heart in blood pumping; a VAD controller coupled to the pump, the VAD controller adapted to control the operation of the pump using the sensed one or more signals for enhancing one or more effects of the one or more agents; and an agent delivery controller coupled to the implantable agent delivery device, the agent delivery controller adapted to control the delivery of the one or more agents using the sensed one or more signals in temporal coordination with the operation of the pump. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification