Deployment instrument for closure device for percutaneously sealing punctures

A deployment instrument for deploying a closure device for sealing a percutaneous puncture in a wall of a body passageway, the closure device including an anchor, a plug and a contiguous elongate filament configured to draw the plug towards the anchor upon the application of tension to the filament in a direction away from the anchor, the deployment instrument comprising:

• a carrier assembly, wherein the carrier assembly is configured to hold the closure device in a pre-deployment state;
• and
• a tamper assembly including a frame and a tamper body, the tamper body including a tamping end and a frame interface end opposite the tamping end, wherein the tamper body is movable relative to the frame,
• wherein the tamper assembly is configured to provide an increase in tamping force as the frame is moved relative to the tamper body in a direction towards the tamping end.

A method of sealing a percutaneous puncture in a wall of a body passageway, comprising:

• providing a deployment instrument carrying a closure device, the closure device including an anchor, a plug and a contiguous elongate filament configured to draw the plug towards the anchor upon the application of tension to the filament in a direction away from the anchor;
• positioning a distal end of the deployment instrument through the puncture into the body passageway such that the anchor is positioned in the body passageway;
• and
• pulling the deployment instrument away from the puncture while the filament is connected to the deployment instrument, thereby applying a mechanically induced increasing tension force to the filament that increases with increasing distance of the deployment instrument away from the puncture to draw the anchor and the seal towards each other and into engagement with the wall of the body passageway at respectively opposite sides of the wall.

A method of sealing a puncture in a blood passageway of a living being, the method comprising:

• inserting an anchor coupled to a filament loop in the blood passageway through the puncture;
• bringing the anchor into engagement with an interior wall of the blood passageway;
• applying a tension force to a portion of the filament so that a force is applied to the loop tending to decrease the circumference of the loop, wherein a lock is frictionally slidably engaged with a portion of the filament extending from the circumference of the loop;
• applying a tamping force to the lock in a direction towards the loop and in a direction away from the direction of the applied tension to the portion of the filament, wherein the tamping force is sufficient to overcome the frictional engagement forces so that the lock slides along the filament in a direction towards the anchor, wherein the lock is configured to resist movement along the filament in a direction opposite the direction of the tamping force, thereby preventing the circumference of the loop from expanding relative to the circumference of the loop after application of the tamping force and the tension force.

A method of sealing a puncture in a cardiac wall of a living being, the method comprising:

• inserting an anchor coupled to a filament into an inner cavity of a heart;
• bringing the anchor into engagement with an interior wall of the inner cavity;
• and
• moving at least a portion of a plug toward the anchor via the application of a tension force to a portion of the filament, thereby sealing the puncture as a result of contact of the plug with heart tissue at the puncture.