Patent ID: 7309350

Claim:
Apparatus for delivering a prosthesis into a target vessel comprising: a flexible catheter shaft having proximal and distal ends and a first lumen therein; a tubular prosthesis releasably carried near the distal end of the catheter shaft, the tubular prosthesis being expandable to a shape suitable for engaging the target vessel; a sheath disposed over the catheter shaft and the tubular prosthesis and being retractable relative thereto to a retracted position in which the tubular prosthesis is exposed for deployment, the sheath having proximal and distal ends, and an exit port between the proximal and distal ends; and a guidewire tube extending through the exit port and having a distal extremity extending through the tubular prosthesis and being fixedly attached to the catheter shaft within the sheath and a proximal extremity disposed outside of the sheath, the guidewire tube being adapted for slidably receiving a guidewire therethrough and wherein the guidewire tube slides through the exit port as the sheath is retracted relative to the catheter shaft.