Introduceer assembly and sheath therefor
AssigneeCook Medical Technologies LLC
InventorPalle Munk Hansen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An introducer assembly (10) includes a sheath (18) having a proximal portion (26) with a greater wall thickness and a distal portion (30) with a smaller wall thickness. A transition portion (28) may be provided to give a gradual transition between the proximal and distal portions (26, 30). The outer surface (32) of the sheath (18) has a substantially smooth and preferably even form and preferably constant diameter. The sheath (18) can thus have a greater flexibility at its distal end that at its proximal end, to improve trackability and thus to facilitate deployment of an implantable medical device (16) carried by the introducer (10). The smooth outer surface (22) prevents snagging of the introducer assembly (10) during and after the deployment procedure.
Claims21
A sheath for an introducer assembly including proximal and distal ends, an outer surface and an internal surface providing a lumen within the sheath extending between said proximal and distal ends;
- said lumen formed by said internal surface including a proximal section proximate the proximal end of the sheath and a distal section proximate the distal end of the sheath;
- the proximal section having a smaller diameter than a diameter of the distal section;
- wherein the outer surface of the sheath has a substantially constant diameter or a substantively constantly varying diameter between the proximal and distal ends of the sheath.
An introducer assembly including a sheath and a carrier element disposed in the sheath;
- the sheath including proximal and distal ends, an outer surface and an internal surface providing a lumen within the sheath extending between said proximal and distal ends;
- said lumen formed by said internal surface including a proximal section proximate the proximal end of the sheath and a distal section proximate the distal end of the sheath;
- the proximal section having a smaller diameter than a diameter of the distal section;
- wherein the outer surface of the sheath has a substantially constant diameter or a substantively constantly varying diameter between the proximal and distal ends of the sheath.
A sheath for an introducer assembly including proximal and distal ends, an outer surface and an internal surface providing a lumen within the sheath extending between said proximal and distal ends;
- said lumen formed by said internal surface including a proximal section proximate the proximal end of the sheath and a distal section proximate the distal end of the sheath;
- the proximal section having a smaller diameter than a diameter of the distal section;
- and a transition section between the distal and proximal sections of the sheath, the transition section having a tapering internal diameter from the proximal section to the distal section and a length from 10 mm to 200 mm;
- wherein the outer surface of the sheath has a substantially constant diameter or a substantively constantly varying diameter between the proximal and distal ends of the sheath;
- the sheath including a structural element extending within at least a part of proximal section and a least part of the transition section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.