Reshaping the Failing Heart A Cinchable Implant That Restores Ventricular Geometry Without Open Surgery

A US cardiac device company has patented a minimally invasive implantable system that physically reshapes a failing heart ventricle by cinching its circumference – reducing the dilated cavity to a more efficient pumping geometry without requiring open-heart surgery. The invention targets dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart’s main pumping chamber becomes enlarged and weakened, and offers a structural solution to a problem that drugs alone cannot fully address.

The Problem

Heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy affects millions of people worldwide. In this condition, the left ventricle – the heart’s main pumping chamber – becomes enlarged and loses its normal elliptical shape, expanding into a more spherical geometry. This change in shape dramatically reduces the efficiency of each heartbeat, as the dilated ventricle must work harder to generate the same stroke volume. Over time, the condition progressively worsens, leading to fluid retention, breathlessness, hospitalisation and ultimately death.

Current medical management of dilated cardiomyopathy relies primarily on drug therapies – ACE inhibitors, beta blockers, diuretics and similar agents – that can slow progression and improve symptoms but cannot reverse the underlying structural deformation of the ventricle. For some patients, implanted devices such as cardiac resynchronisation therapy pacemakers provide additional benefit, and the most severe cases may be managed with ventricular assist devices or heart transplantation. However, there remains a significant gap in treatment options for patients who are deteriorating despite optimal medical therapy but are not yet candidates for the most invasive interventions.

A device that could mechanically restore a more normal ventricular geometry – reducing the circumference of the dilated chamber – could improve cardiac efficiency and slow or reverse the progression of heart failure in these patients.

What This Invention Does

Ancora Heart’s invention describes a cinchable device that is implanted around the exterior of the left ventricle at a location approximately 10 to 20 mm below the mitral valve – in a plane substantially parallel to the valve. The device spans approximately 220 to 230 degrees of the ventricular circumference at that location, encompassing most of the ventricle’s cross-section.

The device is secured to the ventricular wall via a plurality of tethered anchors, with force-distributing members that spread the load evenly across the tissue. Once secured, the device is cinched by tensioning a tether until the ventricular circumference at the device location is reduced by approximately 30 per cent – from about 25 to about 35 per cent. The device is then locked in this cinched configuration, maintaining the reduced circumference.

The specification also describes introducing a predetermined amount of slack before locking, allowing the device to be set at a precise final geometry with controlled tension. The entire procedure can be performed without opening the chest, using a catheter-based or thoracoscopic approach.

Key Features

Circumferential cinching mechanism. The device reduces ventricular circumference by approximately 30 per cent – a targeted, clinically meaningful degree of reshaping designed to restore more efficient cardiac geometry without over-constraining the heart.

Below-mitral-valve placement. Positioning the device 10 to 20 mm below the mitral valve and parallel to it targets the region of maximum ventricular dilation while preserving mitral valve function – a critical consideration in dilated cardiomyopathy management.

Tethered anchor system. Multiple tethered anchors spread attachment forces across the ventricular wall, reducing the risk of focal tissue damage or anchor pull-through that could occur with single-point fixation.

Force-distributing members. Load-distributing elements ensure cinching forces are applied evenly around the ventricular circumference, protecting the myocardium while achieving consistent geometric reshaping.

Controlled slack and locking. Introducing a predetermined amount of slack before locking allows fine adjustment of the final cinched geometry, enabling the implanting clinician to achieve precise results during the procedure.

Who Is Behind It?

Ancora Heart, Inc. is a Santa Clara, California-based medical device company focused on transcatheter and minimally invasive structural heart therapies. The inventors are Russel Sampson and Jeffrey M. Closs. This application is a divisional of AU 2020353674, corresponding to PCT/US2020/052860 filed 25 September 2020, with priority to US provisional application 62/906,524 filed 26 September 2019. The application is managed by FB Rice Pty Ltd in Sydney.

Why It Matters

Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalisation in people over 65 and is associated with enormous healthcare costs globally. Structural interventions that can restore cardiac geometry and improve pumping efficiency represent a meaningful complement to pharmacological therapy – potentially reducing hospitalisation rates, improving functional status and extending life for patients who have limited options under current treatment paradigms.

The Ancora Heart approach is particularly notable for its minimally invasive delivery – avoiding the morbidity and risk of open-heart surgery for a patient population that is often too sick to tolerate it. With the IPC classification covering prosthetic implants for tissue repair (A61F 2/02), the patent sits at the frontier of structural cardiac intervention, where catheter-based and device-based approaches are increasingly challenging the dominance of conventional surgery.

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AU 2026201545 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 19 March 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.

Related Concepts

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle in which the left ventricle enlarges and weakens, reducing the efficiency of each heartbeat. Progressive dilation leads to heart failure, fluid retention, breathlessness and ultimately death, with limited structural treatment options beyond transplantation or ventricular assist devices for advanced cases.

Structural cardiac interventions – devices that physically modify cardiac geometry rather than relying on drugs alone – represent a growing frontier in heart failure management. Ventricular assist devices and cardiac resynchronisation therapy are established approaches, while circumferential ventricular reshaping – as in this patent – explores a less invasive mechanical path to restoring efficient heart geometry.