Device for connecting a catheter or other tubular member onto a guide-wire without access to the ends of the guide-wire

Abstract

A tubular instrument, e.g., a catheter including a hollow wall portion forming the distal end of the instrument and terminating at a distal opening, having a connector arranged to be used with a guide-wire. The guide wire has a distal end portion and a proximal end portion, the distal end portion of the guide-wire being arranged to be extended to some interior position within the body of a living being, with the proximal end portion of the guide-wire being located outside the being's body. The connector is located at the distal end of the instrument and is arranged to be readily manipulated by a twisting action to connect the instrument onto the guide-wire for sliding movement therealong. In particular, the connector establishes a path into which a portion of the guide-wire can be inserted from a lateral direction by merely twisting the instrument, without requiring access to either end of the guide-wire. In one embodiment the path is a spiral channel formed in the hollow wall portion of the instrument. In another embodiment the connector is a spiral member located on the outside of the distal end of the instrument, spaced slightly from the outer surface of the instrument to form the path or channel into which the guide-wire is inserted.