Apparatus and method for deployment of a bronchial obstruction device

A system for deploying a bronchial device in an air passageway, the system comprising:

• a catheter configured to be passed down a trachea, into a bronchus communicating with the trachea and into the air passageway communicating with the lung portion, the catheter comprising an internal lumen;
• an axially-movable pusher within the internal lumen;
• a housing that defines a sealed capsule arranged to substantially sealingly encapsulate and separate the bronchial device from an environment external to the capsule, the housing configured to be fully within the catheter;
• the pusher movable relative to the housing the bronchial device positioned within the sealed capsule, the housing being further arranged to be advanced down an internal lumen of the catheter placed into the air passageway in the direction of a distal end of the catheter, and to release the bronchial device, upon movement of the axially-movable pusher from outside of the capsule into a proximal end of the sealed capsule and upon application of a force on a proximal end of the bronchial device, for deployment through a distal end of the sealed capsule in the air passageway such that the bronchial device is not in physical contact with the housing or the catheter once deployed, the axially-movable pusher being located outside of the sealed capsule until the application of the force on the proximal end of the sealed capsule;
• and
• the housing comprising a proximally extending tubular extension that is separated from the bronchial device by a wall defining the sealed capsule.