A one-time manager of several healthcare-investment portfolios, now a director at Cambridge Heart Inc. (NSDQ:CAMH), boosted his stake in the Tewksbury, Mass.-based maker of cardiac monitors with a $350,000 purchase of additional stock.

Jeffrey Wiggins, who joined Cambridge Heart’s board two years ago, last week acquired a total of 2.9 million shares by exercising warrants that were part of the company’s $1.8 million private placement of convertible preferred shares in December 2009. As part of that deal, Wiggins had the right to buy up to 1.8 million additional shares for 10.7 cents each before the end of the year, plus another 1.1 million shares at 14.2 cents apiece by December 2014.

Cambridge Heart officials announced last week they were issuing a warrant call, giving holders of the 2014 warrants the choice of either exercising those securities by June 4 or having the company buy back the warrants at a rate of 1,000 shares per $1.

Although the warrants expiring Dec. 23, 2010 were not subject to the current warrant call, Wiggins elected to exercise them as part of his May 3 purchases, according to new ownership documents filed with regulators this week.

Prior to joining the Cambridge Heart board, Wiggins oversaw healthcare investments for Dresdner RCM Capital Management, now part of Allianz Global Investors. He also put in a stint as president of a data delivery service company in Dallas and managed a derivative-based hedge fund in Chicago.

With Cambridge Heart stock closing Tuesday at 37 cents a share, Wiggin’s $650,000 investment is now worth slightly more than $2.4 million, making for a 273 percent gain after less than five months, assuming his 300 shares of preferred stock eventually are converted into common stock.