Various surgical procedures are routinely carried out intravascularly or intraluminally. For example, in the treatment of vascular disease, such as arteriosclerosis, it is a common practice to access the artery and insert an instrument (e.g., a balloon or other type of catheter) to carry out a procedure within the artery. Such procedures usually involve the percutaneous puncture of the artery so that an insertion sheath may be placed in the artery and thereafter instruments (e.g., catheters) may pass through the sheath to an operative position within the artery. Intravascular and intraluminal procedures unavoidably present the problem of stopping the bleeding at the percutaneous puncture after the procedure has been completed and after the instruments (and any insertion sheaths used therewith) have been removed. Bleeding from puncture sites, particularly in the case of femoral arterial punctures, is typically stopped using a vascular closure device.
While there are a variety of prior art devices and techniques for closing such punctures, one method includes temporarily sealing the tissue puncture intravascularly using an inflation balloon. A sealing material may be delivered to an outer surface of the tissue to seal the tissue puncture while maintaining the temporary seal from the balloon. Removing the collapsed balloon through the delivered sealing material may leave a tract through the sealing material. Challenges exist in closing the tract. Other challenges exist in providing multiple ejections of sealing material to the vessel puncture.