Patent ID: 7727251

Claim:
In a wire-guided arteriotomy closure system having a sheath and stabilizers extending distally from the sheath, a low profile dilator for placing the sheath and stabilizers with respect to an arteriotomy comprising: an elongate dilator shaft having a tapered distal end, the dilator shaft having a first guidewire lumen and a second lumen parallel to the first lumen; the second lumen having a proximal segment defining a blood marking lumen extending from the proximal end of the dilator to a blood marking port at the distal region of the proximal segment of the second lumen; the second lumen having a distal segment, the dilator shaft having a pair of side ports formed therein and in communication with the distal segment of the second lumen with a portion of the second lumen extending distally beyond the side ports to define a distally extending pocket receptive to the ends of wire-like stabilizers; the proximal and distal segments of the second lumen being separated by a plug or composition and being arranged in tandem such that the transverse cross-section of the dilator, over substantially all of its length, has not more than two lumens.