Patent ID: 8002792

Claim:
A method for forming a self-sealing tract in a vessel wall using a device comprising an introducer, the method comprising: a. inserting an anchor across a vessel wall into a lumen defined by the vessel wall through a first arteriotomy that has a first angle with respect to the vessel wall; b. applying a force to the anchor to position an adjacent portion of the vessel wall in a desired contact configuration relative to the anchor; c. while maintaining the vessel wall portion in the desired contact configuration with the anchor, advancing the introducer through a proximal extension of the anchor and across the vessel wall to form a tract in the vessel wall, wherein a distal portion of the tract defines a second angle with respect to the vessel wall and wherein the first angle is larger than the second angle, and wherein the tract is defined between overlapping tissue portions of the vessel wall; and d. expanding the tract with a sheath so that a procedure may be performed therethrough, wherein the tract includes at least one sloped region, and wherein after the procedure has been performed and the device and sheath have been withdrawn from the tract, blood pressure acting on the vessel causes the overlapping tissue portions to collapse and self-seal.