Claims
- 1. A medical introducer device comprising:(a) a single-layer, peelable PTFE sheath having a bore extending therethrough and that does not include mechanically produced skiving for longitudinal splitting of the sheath, the sheath thermally cured to provide a peel strength of at least about 0.5 lbs with a standard deviation of no greater than about 0.40 lbs; and (b) a hub unit attached at a proximal end of the peelable sheath which facilitates splitting of the peelable sheath upon application of an effective shearing force thereon.
- 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the peel strength is at least about 0.70 lbs.
- 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the peel strength is at least about 1.0 lbs.
- 4. The device of claim 1 wherein the peel strength standard deviation is no more than about 0.30 lbs.
- 5. The device of claim 1 wherein the peel strength standard deviation is no more than about 0.20 lbs.
- 6. The device of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of wing portions attached to the hub unit on opposing sides for grasping the hub unit.
- 7. The device of claim 1 wherein the peelable sheath comprises a detectable material capable of external visualization.
- 8. The device of claim 1 further comprising a needle or dilator assembly extending longitudinally within the bore of the peelable sheath.
- 9. A method of introducing a catheter or guide wire into a patient comprising:(a) providing a medical introducer device of claim 1; (b) piercing and dilating the vasculature of the patient using the needle or dilator assembly; (c) inserting the catheter or guidewire through the bore of the peelable sheath into vasculature of the patient; (d) applying cooperating forces to the wing portions of the hub unit to axially shear the peelable sheath; and (e) removing the peelable sheath from the vasculature of the patient.
Parent Case Info
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/470,693, filed Dec. 23, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,744.
US Referenced Citations (5)