| abstract |
The application is directed to a catheter (132) having, a retractable sheath (136), wherein the catheter is configured to withdraw the sheath at varying speeds. The catheter can be used to deploy medical devices, such as an endoluminal stent (134). The retractable sheath is configured to be placed around the stent or other medical device. The elongated sheath is secured to a handle (90). The handle includes a mechanism, which may be hand and/or motor (136) operated, which retracts the elongated sheath to expose the endoluminal device. The speed of sheath withdrawal can be varied via an assembly of gears (139,154) and/or variable motor speed, and in one embodiment by a helical gear with (142) threads having a varied angle of attack or variable pitch. |