Patent ID: 7766861

Claim:
A delivery apparatus for delivering a gastrointestinal implant, the apparatus comprising: a catheter for passage through a length of the intestines and for delivering a gastrointestinal implant shaped and configured for providing a barrier in the digestive tract; a moveable element extending along a length of the catheter, and being longitudinally moveable within the catheter; and an atraumatic element distal to and releasably coupled to a distal tip of the catheter and to the moveable element, the atraumatic element leading the catheter as it passes in the intestines and being releasable from the catheter within the intestines after the atraumatic element facilitates passage of the catheter therein, the atraumatic element being released by moving the moveable element away from the atraumatic element to decouple the atraumatic element from the moveable element and the catheter, the atraumatic element being distinct from the implant to pass through the intestines separately from the catheter after release from the catheter, the atraumatic element being substantially larger in diameter than the catheter, and the atraumatic element being external to the catheter during passage within the intestines.