Patent attributes
An introducer sheath for the insertion of a medical device into a blood vessel having an expandable sheath. The sheath has a length, a thickness, and proximal and distal ends. The expandable sheath has a frame extending longitudinally between the proximal and the distal ends, and having an exterior surface and an interior surface that forms an interior lumen along the length of the frame. The frame is configured to achieve an expanded state and a contracted state, the expanded state forming an expanded cross-section in the lumen for passing a medical device therethrough. The frame has a smooth coating about the exterior surface and protrusions extending into the lumen along the interior surface. The introducer sheath can be introduced into a patient in the contracted state, with the distal end of the introducer sheath prevented from moving in the proximal direction by an abutment against a dilator end surface.
