Patent ID: 7018358

Claim:
Apparatus for facilitating the advancement of a functional measurement wire to a vascular treatment site, the apparatus comprising: an outer tube having proximal and distal ends; an inner tube having proximal and distal ends and a working lumen extending therethrough, the inner tube being disposed within the outer tube; an auxiliary tube having proximal and distal ends and an auxiliary lumen extending therethrough, wherein the auxiliary lumen communicates at the proximal end with a side port disposed in a lateral surface of the outer tube and at a distal end communicates with the working lumen of the inner tube to define a bifurcation; and a stylet having proximal and distal ends, and a receptor coupled to the distal end, the receptor adapted to engage a proximal end of a functional measurement wire, the stylet slidably and removably disposed within the auxiliary lumen, wherein the auxiliary lumen and the stylet are configured to permit the functional measurement wire to be backloaded through a distal end of the working lumen to engage the receptor when the receptor is advanced into the bifurcation.