Patent ID: 8182522

Claim:
An apparatus for delivering an intraluminal prosthesis within a patient's body, the apparatus comprising: an inner sheath having longitudinally spaced proximal and distal inner sheath ends; a nose cone connected to the distal inner sheath end; an intraluminal prosthesis sheath having longitudinally spaced proximal and distal intraluminal prosthesis sheath ends and a hollow intraluminal prosthesis sheath bore at least partially surrounding the inner sheath, the intraluminal prosthesis sheath being adapted for movement relative to the inner sheath; a stopper connected to the inner sheath at a location longitudinally spaced from the nose cone and extending radially between the inner sheath and the intraluminal prosthesis sheath; and an annular intraluminal prosthesis space defined radially between the intraluminal prosthesis sheath and the inner sheath and longitudinally between the stopper and the nose cone, the annular intraluminal prosthesis space being adapted to contain a compressed intraluminal prosthesis; wherein the inner sheath, the nose cone, the stopper, the intraluminal prosthesis sheath, and the annular intraluminal prosthesis space cooperatively form an intraluminal prosthesis cartridge having proximal and distal cartridge ends spaced apart by a cartridge body located longitudinally therebetween, the cartridge body including the annular intraluminal prosthesis space, the proximal cartridge end including the proximal inner sheath end, the proximal cartridge end being configured for mechanical attachment to a distal end of a delivery catheter, the intraluminal prosthesis cartridge being separate from the delivery catheter until attached thereto; wherein the proximal inner sheath end has an inner sheath connector configured to attach to a distal inner sheath end of the delivery catheter, the proximal intraluminal prosthesis sheath end has an outer-intraluminal prosthesis sheath connector configured to attach to a distal outer sheath end of the delivery catheter, and the inner sheath connector and outer-intraluminal prosthesis sheath connector are both inserted into the patient's body for delivery of the intraluminal prosthesis.