Medical device delivery system

Abstract

A delivery system (10) for implanting a medical device (30) such as a venous valve into the vasculature of a patient. The delivery system includes a delivery catheter (11) having a device-containing portion (15) adjacent to the distal end (14) thereof, and an inner member (16) extending through the catheter and beyond the distal end thereof, to an atraumatic distal tip portion (17) forward of the catheter distal end. The inner member extends through the medical device in the device-containing region, includes a proximal portion (18) with a sufficiently large diameter to prevent longitudinal movement of the device as the catheter is retracted during deployment, and centers the device upon release from the distal catheter end during deployment. The inner member is preferably radiolucent underlying the device for contrast with radiopaque markers (43) of the device. The inner member preferably includes a flat portion (35) extending from the device-containing portion to the proximal end (22) to form a passageway or lumen (21) with the delivery catheter to transmit hydrating fluid to a device such as a valve containing lyophilized tissue requiring hydration immediately prior to patient implantation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.