Patent ID: 8317859

Claim:
A catheter for delivering a prosthesis to a treatment site in a body lumen, the catheter comprising: a pusher tube having a proximal end and a distal end; a sheath slidably disposed over the pusher tube; one or more self-expanding tubular prostheses carried within the sheath which constrains the prostheses in a radially contracted configuration, the one or more prostheses being independently releasable from the sheath as the sheath is retracted relative to the pusher tube, the prostheses resiliently expanding upon release from the sheath; and a radially expandable control member positionable within the prostheses and disposed over an elongate flexible member having a lumen therethrough that is adapted to receive a guidewire, the control member having an expanded shape which engages an inner surface of at least one of the prostheses to exert an outward force against the at least one prosthesis, the control member comprising a plurality of elongate struts having an arcuate configuration in the expanded shape, the control member being axially movable with the sheath and proximally movable relative to the elongate flexible member while in the expanded shape so as to slide relative to the prostheses in engagement therewith as the sheath is retracted relative to the pusher tube, wherein the pusher tube is adapted to prevent proximal motion of the one or more self-expanding prostheses as the sheath is retracted.