Patent ID: 9724192
Date: 2017-08-08
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61F,A61M

Claim:
1. Apparatus for percutaneous access to a body of a patient, comprising: a first steerable tube shaped to define a first lumen, and a first coupling at a longitudinal site of the first steerable tube; a second steerable tube, shaped to define a second lumen and a second coupling, the second coupling being intracorporeally couplable to the first coupling; a first handle, coupled to a proximal portion of the first steerable tube; a second handle, coupled to a proximal portion of the second steerable tube; and an extracorporeal locking system comprising: the apparatus having: an unlocked state in which at least the second coupling is disposed within the first lumen, and the second steerable tube is rotatable within the first lumen, and a locked state in which the second coupling is locked to the first coupling, the locking of the second coupling to the first coupling inhibiting rotation of the second steerable tube within the first lumen, and the apparatus being configured such that: the second coupling is advanceable through the first lumen until at least the longitudinal site, the apparatus remains in the unlocked state when the second coupling is disposed within the first lumen, proximal to the longitudinal site, and when (i) the second coupling is disposed at the longitudinal site and (ii) the second steerable tube is in a given rotational orientation within the first lumen, the apparatus moves into the locked state by the second coupling automatically coupling to the first coupling.