ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,350,481, issued on July 8, was assigned to KARDIATEC SA (Athens, Greece).
"Pressure unloading left ventricular assist device and methods for assisting a human heart" was invented by Chris A. Mortis (Charlotte, N.C.), Jay W. Mason (Reno, Nev.) and John Nanas (Ntrafi, Greece).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An implantable pump includes a rigid housing with an oblate spheroid shape and having an inner chamber divided by a movable elastomeric membrane into a gas sub-chamber which is connectible through a drive line to an external pneumatic source, and a blood sub-chamber which is connectible through a graft assembly to an anatomical heart. The ...