abstract |
Apparatus for facilitating anchoring of an anchor to a papillary muscle of a heart of a subject, the apparatus can include: (1) a housing, percutaneously deliverable to the heart, slidable along a guidewire, and shaped to define at least one opening; (2) a guide member, percutaneously deliverable to the heart, percutaneously removable from the subject, couplable to the housing, and having (a) a distal portion, including a chord-engaging element, configured to be percutaneously slidably coupled to at least one chorda tendinea of the heart, and decouplable from the at least one chorda, and (b) a proximal portion, including a longitudinal element; and (3) a deployment tool, configured (a) to be reversibly coupled to the anchor, (b) to be slidably coupled to the longitudinal element, and (c) to anchor the anchor to the papillary muscle. Other embodiments are also described. |