Patent ID: 7056314

Claim:
An omnidirectionally steerable obturator to facilitate the delivery of the distal tip of an introducer sheath into the coronary sinus of a heart, the steerable obturator comprising: an obturator body extending longitudinally along a central axis, the obturator body being configured to be received by the introducer sheath, the obturator body having a flexible, deflectable distal end section terminating in a rounded distal tip; and an actuator controllable from a proximal end of the obturator body, the actuator being operatively associated with the flexible distal end section of the obturator body to cause deflection of the flexible distal end section of the obturator body to cause deflection to the flexible distal end section of the obturator body to facilitate passage of the distal end section of the obturator body and the distal tip of the introducer sheath into the coronary sinus of the heart; the actuator comprises a control handle attached to the proximal end of the obturator body; the obturator body further includes a first set of parallel, longitudinally extending, off axis lumens that are diametrically opposing and a second set of parallel, longitudinally extending, off axis lumens that are diametrically opposing; the control handle includes a first set of manually movable control members and a second set of manually movable control members, each of the movable control members longitudinally and slidingly retractable along the control handle and longitudinally and slidingly advanceable along the control handle; and a cable contained within each off-axis lumen, each cable having a distal end anchored to an interior surface of the distal end section at an off-axis point and a proximal end mechanically coupled to one of the movable control members on the control handle; wherein the first set of movable control members is effective to steer the distal end section in a first plane and the second set of movable control members is effective to steer the distal end section in a second plane; wherein the first plane is substantially transverse to the second plane; and wherein each of the movable control members is independently advanced or retracted in coordination with the other movable control members to deflect the distal end section to guide and steer the distal tip of the obturator.