A medical device delivery system includes a self-expanding medical device
mounted on a balloon portion of a catheter. A sheath is provided around
the medical device to hold the device in place with the device staying in
a compressed state. The balloon portion is inflated to cause the sheath
to rupture and release the self-expanding medical device. A number of
radio-opaque markers in a pattern that will aid in determining whether or
not the sheath has properly ruptured upon inflation of the balloon
portion are provided on the sheath. The radio-opaque markers are
positioned with respect to an expected sheath rupture propagation path
along which the sheath is expected to rupture. The pattern of the markers
changes as the sheath ruptures and this change is detected by an operator
of the system.