Patent ID: 7462191

Claim:
A system for percutaneously introducing a prosthetic valve into a patient's vasculature, comprising: a balloon dilatation catheter having in elongate shaft and a dilatation balloon disposed along a distal end portion, wherein the elongate shaft comprises a width; a prosthetic valve formed with an expandable stent member and a valvular structure, the prosthetic valve being positioned coaxially to the dilatation balloon; and a pusher member having a fixed axial length and formed with a longitudinal slot extending along the entire axial length for accepting the elongate shaft, the pusher member having a distal end configured to contact a proximal end of the expandable stent member for transferring longitudinal forces to the expandable stent member from a location outside the patient's vasculature, the pusher member being slidable relative to the elongate shaft, wherein the pusher member comprises at least one wall extending along the entire axial length of the pusher member, wherein the wall of the pusher member defines a longitudinal gap in the wall, the longitudinal gap extending along the entire axial length of the pusher member and providing access to the longitudinal slot along the entire length of the longitudinal slot, wherein at least a portion of the longitudinal gap in the wall of said pusher member has a width that is less than the width of the elongate shaft, and wherein the pusher member is sufficiently pliable such that the elongate shaft can be inserted into the longitudinal slot by inserting at least a portion of the elongate shaft through the portion of the longitudinal gap that has a width less than the width of the elongate shaft.