Patent ID: 8663320

Claim:
A storage and loading system for an implantable medical device, said system comprising: a container defining an interior chamber and a neck having an inner diameter, the container having a tapered inner surface that defines a funnel that transitions from a relatively large first diameter to a relatively small second diameter that approximates the inner diameter of the neck, the neck adapted to provide communication between the interior chamber and an external environment and having an inner surface defining a circumferential shoulder; an expandable intraluminal medical device disposed within the interior chamber, the intraluminal medical device including a support frame having first and second ends and a section of material capable of being hydrated attached to the support frame, the support frame defining an opening on an the first end of the support frame; a hydrating fluid disposed within the interior chamber and surrounding the expandable intraluminal medical device so as to place the section of material in a hydrated state; and a delivery system having a sheath with a terminal edge and a dilator defining a lumen, a device holding chamber cooperatively defined by the dilator and the sheath, and a grasper disposed through the lumen and having a distal end with a grasping mechanism adapted to engage the implantable medical device at the opening of the support frame, the sheath adapted to engage the neck of the container through an abutting relationship between the terminal edge and the circumferential shoulder of the inner surface of the neck such that the implantable medical device can be moved from the interior chamber to the device holding chamber by advancement of the grasper.