Hemostatic puncture closure system and method of use

A closure for sealing a percutaneous puncture in a blood vessel, said puncture comprising a tract extending through tissue overlying said vessel, said closure comprising anchoring means, sealing means, and filament means, said sealing means comprising an elongated rod-like member, said filament means being connected between said anchoring means and said sealing means and comprising a loop extending about a portion of said rod-like member, said rod-like member having a first aperture therein through which said filament means extends, said filament means extending through a portion of said anchor means and back through second and third apertures in said rod-like member, said closure being insertable into said tract and through said puncture so that said anchoring means can be drawn into engagement with the interior tissue of said vessel generally adjacent said puncture, said filament means being operatively connected between said anchoring means and said sealing means to move said anchoring means and said sealing means relative to each other to cause said sealing means to engage tissue generally adjacent said puncture outside of said vessel, said sealing means also being conformable to be mechanically deformed within said tract by a compressive force thereto to retain said closure means in position in said puncture.

A method of sealing a small percutaneous puncture in a blood vessel of a living being utilizing a system comprising carrier means, tamping means and closure means, said puncture comprising a tract extending through tissue overlying said vessel, said closure means comprising anchoring means, sealing means, and filament means, said filament means being connected between said anchoring means and said sealing means, said method comprising inserting said carrier means into said tract and through said puncture, expelling said anchoring means therefrom, drawing said anchoring means into engagement with the interior tissue of said vessel generally adjacent said puncture, applying a pulling force on said filament means to pull said anchoring means and said sealing means relative to each other to cause said sealing means to engage tissue generally adjacent said puncture outside of said vessel, and operating said tamping means to assist said sealing means to conform to said artery and to assist in locking said closure means in place.

A system for sealing a percutaneous puncture in a blood vessel in a living being by use of closure means and insertion means wherein the puncture comprises a tract extending through tissue overlying the vessel and continuing into the vessel, said closure means including a filament means and being sized to be positioned in the tract to seal the tract from the flow of fluids through the vessel, said insertion means including a carrier means and a tamping means, wherein said closure means and said tamping means is located within said carrier means and wherein said carrier means is sized to be moved into an operative position in the puncture to expel said closure means into the puncture therefrom, said carrier means being movable out of said operative position, and wherein said tamping means is coupled to the carrier means so that it is automatically ejected out of said carrier means towards said puncture by the movement of said carrier means out of said operative position, said tamping means being slidable along said filament means towards said puncture to contact and deform at least a portion of said closure means as said closure means is positioned to seal the puncture from the flow of fluids through the blood vessel.

A system for sealing a percutaneous punture in a blood vessel in a living being by use of closure means and insertion means, said puncture comprising a tract extending through tissue overlying the vessel and continuing into the vessel, said closure means including a filament means and being sized to be positioned in the tract to seal the tract from the flow of fluids through the vessel, said insertion means comprising carrier means, tamping means, and tensioning means, said carrier means being sized to be operatively positioned in the puncture to expel said closure means into the puncture therefrom, said tamping means being slidable along said filament means to contact and deform at least a portion of said closure means as said closure means is positioned to seal the puncture from the flow of fluids through said blood vessel, said tensioning means tensioning said filament means to prevent a force in excess of a predetermined value from being applied to said filament means during the positioning of said closure means in the puncture.

A system for sealing a percutaneous puncture in a blood vessel in a living being by use of closure means and insertion means, said puncture comprising a tract extending through tissue overlying the vessel and continuing into the vessel, said closure means including a filament means and being sized to be positioned in the tract to seal the tract from the flow of fluids through the vessel, said insertion means comprising carrier means, tamping means, and an introducer, said carrier means being sized to be operatively positioned in the puncture to expel said closure means into the puncture therefrom, said tamping means being slidable along said filament means to contact and deform at least a portion of said closure means as said closure means is positioned to seal the puncture from the flow of fluids through said blood vessel, said introducer having a distal end portion thereon and means for visually indicating the position of said distal end portion when said distal end portion of said introducer is located within the interior of the blood vessel.

A system for sealing a percutaneous puncture in a blood vessel in a living being by use of closure means and insertion means wherein the puncture comprises a tract extending through tissue overlying the vessel and continuing into the vessel, said closure means including a filament means and being sized to be positioned in the tract to seal the tract from the flow of fluids through the vessel, said insertion means including a carrier means and tensioning means wherein said carrier means is sized to be operatively positioned in the puncture to expel said closure means into the puncture therefrom and wherein said tensioning means is operatively associated with said filament means to prevent a force in excess of a predetermined maximum value from being applied to said filament means during the positioning of said closure means in the puncture.