Patent ID: 8142471

Claim:
A small diameter deployment system for placing an agent assembly at a preselected position within a vessel, said deployment system comprising: an elongated flexible deployment catheter having a small diameter lumen extending therethrough and having a proximal section and a distal section, said catheter being formed of a material which is sufficiently flexible to pass through the vasculature of the body, the proximal section of said catheter exhibiting the characteristic of having substantially no radial expansion when fluid pressure is applied to the lumen of said catheter, and the distal section of said catheter exhibiting the characteristic that, when fluid pressure is applied to the lumen of said catheter the wall of the distal section of said catheter expands radially; an agent assembly comprised of a medical agent and a cylindrical headpiece attached to said medical agent, said headpiece having at least one bending point comprised of a circumferential groove, and said headpiece having an outside diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the lumen of said catheter and being disposed in fluid-tight engagement within the lumen of said catheter; a portion of the catheter surrounding at least a portion of said headpiece and having a substantially uniform diameter; and, a connector coupled to the proximal section of said catheter and adapted for a fluid pressure generating device used for applying fluid pressure to the lumen of said catheter causing the distal section of said catheter to expand radially thereby releasing said headpiece and deploying said agent assembly.