Claims
- 1. An expandable sheath for use in introducing a medical instrument into a body, the sheath comprising:
- an elongate sheath tube having proximal and distal ends having an annular passage therethrough, said elongate sheath tube being formed of a flexible material; and
- a self-expanding wire associated with the wall of said elongate sheath tube for causing radial expansion of said sheath tube to expand the annular passage such that a medical instrument can be inserted into the passage.
- 2. The expandable sheath of claim 1, wherein the self-expanding wire of said reinforcing means is sinusoidal in configuration.
- 3. The expandable sheath of claim 1, wherein the self-expanding wire of said reinforcing means is helical in configuration.
- 4. The expandable sheath of claim 1, wherein the self-expanding wire of said reinforcing means is configured to transverse a length of said sheath tube and to encircle the perimeter of the distal end of said sheath tube.
- 5. The expandable sheath of claim 1, wherein the self-expanding wire of said reinforcing means is configured to transverse the length of said sheath tube and to form a sinusoidal shape along the perimeter of the distal end of said sheath tube.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/333,229, filed Nov. 2, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,418, which is a division of application Ser. No. 109,131, filed Aug. 19, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,349, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/807,089, filed Dec. 13, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,150.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Divisions (2)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
333229 |
Nov 1994 |
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Parent |
109131 |
Aug 1993 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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807089 |
Dec 1991 |
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