Patent ID: 7018394

Claim:
An embolic coil introducer system for introducing a deployment catheter and an embolic coil into the vasculature of a body, said introducer system comprising: a deployment catheter which takes the form of an elongated flexible tube having a lumen extending therethrough and having a proximal section and a distal section; a detachable and reattachable sheath which takes the form of a flexible tube having a lumen extending therethrough, said sheath having a proximal end and a distal end, said sheath having a longitudinal slit extending through a wall of said sheath and extending from the proximal end to a position intermediate the proximal and distal ends, said sheath being disposed about said deployment catheter through said lumen of said sheath, and said sheath being detachable and reattachable such that when the proximal end of said sheath is raised, said longitudinal slit is forced open and said sheath detaches and reattaches from said deployment catheter through said longitudinal slit; a vascular occlusive embolic coil being attached to the distal section of said deployment catheter, said embolic coil being disposed within the lumen of said sheath; a stop which takes the form of a cylindrical member having a lumen extending therethrough, said lumen of said cylindrical member having a diameter approximately equal to an outside diameter of said sheath, said stop fixedly disposed on the periphery of said sheath at about the position intermediate the proximal and distal ends of said sheath, and said stop being used to position said sheath while being inserted into the vasculature of the body; and a zipper which takes the form of a tubular member having a lumen extending therethrough, said lumen of said zipper having a diameter approximately equal to an outside diameter of said sheath, said zipper being slideably disposed about said sheath between the proximal end of said sheath and at about the position intermediate the proximal and distal ends of said sheath such that when said zipper is moved proximally, said sheath is reattached onto said deployment catheter through said longitudinal slit.