A device is configured for closing an aperture in a wall of a blood vessel. An embodiment of the device includes a body and at least one suture element held within the body. A suture capture rod is positioned within the body and is operatively associated with the suture element and arranged to pass the suture element through a vessel wall such that opposed portions of the suture element extend from the vessel wall. A removable guidewire segment is removably attached to a distal end of the body.

A delivery device for an implantable medical device may include an inner shaft configured to retain the implantable medical device at its distal end, an outer shaft slidably disposed about the inner shaft, and a locking hub affixed to the outer shaft. The locking hub may include a housing, a piston element in the housing, an actuator operatively coupled to the piston element, and a clamping gasket made of a compressible material and disposed in the housing. The actuator may be movable relative to the housing between unlocked and locked conditions. The clamping gasket may have a lumen defining a first diameter with the actuator in the unlocked condition and a second diameter with the actuator in the locked condition, the second diameter being less than the first diameter. The outer shaft and the locking hub may be fixed to the inner shaft with the actuator in the locked condition.

An aortic method for aortic valve crossing is disclosed. The method includes advancing a positioning catheter through an aorta to a delivery position in which a distal end of the positioning catheter is spaced apart from an aortic valve crossing. The positioning catheter defines a positioning lumen containing positioning arms. The method further includes landing the positioning arms on cusps of aortic leaflets of the aortic valve crossing to align the positioning catheter with an opening defined by the aortic leaflets. The method also includes extending a longitudinally extending guidewire through the opening.

A delivery system for an intracorporeal device includes a sheath defining one or more lumens shaped to receive a delivery catheter or shaft and a guidewire. The system may include a delivery shaft having a distal coupling feature adapted to releasably couple with a proximal coupling feature of the intracorporeal device. The delivery system may further include a hub through which the delivery shaft and guidewire are passed. The delivery shaft may be coupled to a feature, such as a knob, that enables manipulation of the delivery shaft to decouple the distal fixation feature from the proximal fixation feature of the intracorporeal device in order to deploy the intracorporeal device within a patient.

Occlusive implants are provided with various embodiments of active and/or passive release structures. Systems for delivering the occlusive implants as well as methods for making and delivering the implants are also provided.

Embodiments of the disclosed microcatheters comprise an inner tube that extends from a distal tip to a proximal hub. One embodiment of a microcatheter comprises a first inner coil wound around a length of the inner tube, a second middle coil wound around the first coil and in a different winding direction or lay than the winding direction or lay of the first coil, and a third outer coil wound around a proximal portion of the second coil and in a different winding direction or lay than the winding direction or lay of the second coil. In one disclosed embodiment, the first, second and third coils include distal ends that terminate distally together at a common location that is spaced proximally from the distal tip. Gaps in one or more of the first, second or third coils may be provided between groups or sections of wire filars forming the coils to improve flexibility while maintaining sufficient axial force transmission and torque capabilities.

Embodiments of the disclosed microcatheters comprise an inner tube that extends from a distal tip to a proximal hub. The microcatheter comprises a first inner coil wound around a length of the inner tube, a second middle coil wound around the first coil and in a different winding direction than the winding direction of the first coil, and a third outer coil wound around a proximal portion of the second coil and in a different winding direction than the winding direction of the second coil. The first and second coils terminate distally together at a common location that is spaced proximally from the distal tip and the third coil terminates proximally from the termination location of the first and second coils. Gaps may be provided between groups or sections of wire filars forming the coils for flexibility. Outer polymer materials are provided around the coils, wherein the polymers comprise decreasing hardness moving from proximal to distal along the microcatheter.

A delivery system for an intracorporeal device includes a sheath defining one or more lumens shaped to receive a delivery catheter or shaft and a guidewire. The system may include a delivery shaft having a distal coupling feature adapted to releasably couple with a proximal coupling feature of the intracorporeal device. The delivery system may further include a hub through which the delivery shaft and guidewire are passed. The delivery shaft may be coupled to a feature, such as a knob, that enables manipulation of the delivery shaft to decouple the distal fixation feature from the proximal fixation feature of the intracorporeal device in order to deploy the intracorporeal device within a patient.

A custom length stylet assembly for meeting medical device length tolerances. The custom length stylet assembly including a stylet wire having a length extending between a distal end and a proximal end, stylet handle defining a longitudinally oriented throughbore sized to retain a proximal portion of the stylet wire, the stylet handle further defining a proximately positioned track and tab, the track configured to retain a bent proximal end portion of the stylet wire, the length of the stylet wire selected during assembly of the stylet assembly to conform to the corresponding length of a body implantable lead within a predefined tolerance, the tab of the stylet handle melted into the track, thereby securely fastening stylet wire to the stylet handle to inhibit rotation or dislodgement.

A method of constructing a detachment system for delivering an implantable medical device to a target location of a body vessel is presented. The method includes forming a compressible portion on a distal tube, engaging an implantable medical device with an engagement system, extending the engagement system through the distal tube such that the implantable medical device is distal of a distal end of the distal tube, applying a force to the engagement system to compress the compressible portion to a compressed state, fixing the engagement system to the distal tube to maintain the compressed state of the compressible portion, and joining a proximal end of the distal tube to a distal end of a proximal tube. The engagement system can include a loop wire that is fixed to the distal tube and engages the medical device.