Patent attributes
A large diameter delivery catheter or sheath for percutaneous delivery of a contained and implantable medical device in the vasculature of a patient. The delivery catheter or sheath includes a reinforcement such as a flat wire coil with uniform spacing between the turns. The reinforcement is compression fitted about an inner, lubricous PTFE tube having a substantially uniform inner diameter of from 16 to 30 French. The delivery catheter or sheath further includes an outer tube of a heat formable polyamide material having a durometer of about 30 to 60 on the Shore D scale. The outer tube is heat formed and compressed through the spaces between the turns of the wire coil to mechanically connect to a roughened outer surface of the inner tube. A polymeric radiopaque marker tube may be positioned at the distal end of the coil and between the inner and outer tubes for radiographic visualization.
