Abstract: A passive girdle is wrapped around a heart muscle which has dilatation of a ventricle to conform to the size and shape of the heart and to constrain the dilatation during diastole. The girdle is formed of a material and structure that does not expand away from the heart but may, over an extended period of time be decreased in size as dilatation decreases.

Abstract: An artificial implantable heart assist system with an artificial myocardium employs a number of flexible, non-distensible tubes with the walls along their long axes connected in series to form a cuff. The tubes are sealed for purposes of inflation and deflation with either hydraulic fluid or pneumatic fluid. The cuff is placed around the natural heart. The inflation of the tubular segments provides that they have a circular cross-section, while in the deflated, or collapsed position without being fluid filled, they are essentially flat sheets. The difference in the perimeter length of the cuff in the plane of the tube short axis, arising from the fact that, inflated, each tube has a length along its perimeter equal to the diameter of the inflated tube, while deflated it has a length equal to the perimeter of the tube divided by two, provides for a contractile force.

Abstract: A laser welding apparatus and system for surgically bonding tissue together provides a beam of coherent light at a wavelength corresponding to a specific tissue thickness at which full absorption of the laser energy occurs, and adjusts the energy of the laser beam in response to tissue temperature throughout the tissue thickness to prevent the tissue temperature from either exceeding a predetermined limit or varying outside a predetermined range. Preferably, the coherent light beam has a center wavelength of 1.9 .mu.m, and is variable between 1.85 and 1.91 .mu.m.

Abstract: A circulatory apparatus for assisting the movement of fluids with a pulsatile flow. The circulatory apparatus includes a restrictable tube, an element for passively restricting a segment of the tube, two or more elements for selectively restricting segments of the tube, and a controller for directing selective restricting elements. The controller directs restricting elements in a manner that provides a cyclical pulsatile pattern of restriction along the length of the tube.