Patent ID: 7597697

Claim:
A method of locating a graft assembly including a blood flow conduit at an arteriotomy defined in a side wall of a blood vessel, with the graft assembly including (i) an orifice at an end of the blood flow conduit, and (ii) a plurality of arms attached to the blood flow conduit at the end thereof and extending away from the orifice, the method comprising the steps of: locating the graft assembly within a delivery device; extravascularly advancing the delivery device toward the arteriotomy while the graft assembly is located within the delivery device; aligning the orifice at the end of the blood flow conduit with the arteriotomy; and locating a first portion of each of the plurality of arms within the blood vessel with a second portion of each of the arms extending outside and away from the blood vessel through the arteriotomy defined in the side wall of the blood vessel; wherein the first portion of each of the plurality of arms is located in a first position in relation to the graft assembly during the advancing step, and wherein the first portion of each of the plurality of arms moves from the first position to a second position in which the first portion of each of the arms extends inside the blood vessel away from the arteriotomy defined therein after the advancing step while the second portion of each of the arms extends away from the blood vessel through the arteriotomy.