Patent ID: 7044916
Filing Date: 2006-05-16
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method to detect sealing of a puncture in a blood vessel wall by a seal inside a blood vessel, comprising: (a) providing an introducer assembly having a distal end and a proximal end and a fluid path between the distal end and the proximal end; (b) placing the introducer assembly such that the distal end of the introducer assembly is inside a blood vessel; (c) placing a seal against an inner wall of the blood vessel by deploying the seal inside the blood vessel and then retracting the seal until contact with the inner wall of the blood vessel; (d) placing the introducer assembly such that the distal end of the introducer assembly is outside the inner wall of the blood vessel; and (e) determining whether the puncture is sealed by said seal by observing a characteristic of blood at the proximal end of the introducer assembly.