Patent ID: 8105287

Claim:
A tearaway introducer sheath for introducing a catheter into a blood vessel, comprising: a sheath tube; a sheath hub having two half-portions and defining therebetween a valve housing having an interior wall surface; and a valve seated within the valve housing and having two half-portions, wherein the valve has a side wall encircling a center passage allowing the insertion or withdrawal therethrough of at least a catheter, and the valve further having a pair of opposed distally extending wall portions that converge at a distal valve end, and a virtual opening defined through the distal valve end, with the sheath hub and the valve having respective planes of separation intersecting the two hub and valve half portions and opposed lines of weakness at the planes of separation thereof such that when the respective planes of separation and the opposed lines of weakness are co-aligned, the assembly is splittable into two halves for removal from around a catheter inserted therethrough and extending into the blood vessel, wherein the valve includes tensioners defined generally perpendicularly to the plane of separation and longitudinally along side sections of the distally extending opposed side walls that at least extend radially outwardly therefrom to be pre-stressed against the interior wall surface of the valve housing upon assembly and biasing the distally extending wall portions against each other at the distal valve end, creating a barrier restricting flow of fluid through the valve, and afterward to continue biasing the distally extending wall portions against each other at the distal valve end for sealing against a catheter extending through the distal valve end.