Patent ID: 8042273

Claim:
A slitter for slitting a guide catheter, comprising: a handle; a blade assembly coupled to the handle comprising a shroud for receiving an elongated body of a medical device, a slitting blade having an exposed cutting edge, and a nose piece extending forward of the cutting edge, wherein the shroud defines a groove comprising at least a first groove portion and a second groove portion, the first groove portion being proximate the nose piece extending along an axis and configured to receive a first portion of the elongated body along the axis, and further wherein the second groove portion is proximal to the first groove portion; and a holding mechanism coupled to the handle, the holding mechanism comprising: an actuator; and a retaining finger coupled to the actuator and extending along at least a portion of the second groove portion defined by the shroud, wherein the retaining finger is configured to guide at least a second portion of the elongated body proximal the first portion of the elongated body away from the axis and retain at least the second portion of the elongated body within at least the second groove portion defined by the shroud between the retaining finger and the shroud when the retaining finger is in a closed position.