Patent ID: 9687370
Date: 2017-06-27
CPC Classifications: A61F

Claim:
1. A method of loading a self-expanding stent into a delivery sheath that is by itself strong enough to preserve the stent in a radially compressed pre-deployment configuration designed for insertion into a vasculature, wherein in the radially compressed pre-deployment configuration, the stent is held compressed solely by the delivery sheath, comprising the steps of: providing a stent having a first end and a second end; compressing the stent to a diameter, d2; providing a loading sheath with an inner diameter d1; with the stent exhibiting an outside diameter of d2, where d2<d1, advancing the stent axially into the loading sheath into a first configuration wherein the loading sheath further comprises a stent region and the stent region accommodates the entire stent; advancing the loading sheath, containing the stent, into a lumen of the delivery sheath into a second configuration wherein the stent region is completely inside the delivery sheath; and deploying the stent into the lumen of the delivery sheath into a third configuration, by withdrawing the loading sheath while restraining the stent from axial movement out of the lumen of the delivery sheath.