Patent ID: 9440054
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: A61F,A61M

Claim Text:
1. A method of introducing catheters into a ventricle of a heart, the method comprising the steps of: inserting a guidewire into the heart through a puncture in the myocardium in an apical region of a ventricle and routing the guidewire to a target region of the cardiovascular system; inserting a collapsed sheath with a dilator pre-inserted, over the guidewire and into the vasculature, radially expanding an expandable region of the sheath by pressurization of a balloon so that the expandable region radially dilates the myocardium and forms a lining inside the myocardium in the apical region of the ventricle; performing therapy or diagnosis at the target region through the expanded sheath; applying heat to cause a re-collapse of the expandable region of the sheath to a smaller diameter after performing therapy or diagnosis and prior to removing the sheath from the heart; and removing the sheath from the heart.