Patent ID: 7544203

Claim:
A temporary sealing element for forming a fluid-tight seal on the inner wall of a fluid conduit within a patient's body, the temporary sealing element comprising: a length of flexible, resilient material integrally forming a stem, and being helically wound to form successive convolutes outwardly from the stem to the periphery, with each convolute adhering to adjacent convolutes along lateral edges thereof to form a fluid impervious flange having the stem centrally formed thereon and including a continuous region of diminished shear strength between adherent convolutes extending from the stem along a continuous path to the periphery for selectively reconfiguring the flange in response to tension applied to the stem to dissemble the flange along the continuous region into a continuous strand; a support structure attached to the stem and including a resilient member disposed to expand from a confined configuration of smaller lateral dimension than the periphery of the flange to an expanded configuration of larger lateral dimension than the periphery of the flange; and a flexible tether forming the attachment of the stem to mating ends of the resilient member for supporting the stem and attached flange intermediate the mating ends of the resilient member.