Patent ID: 7993350

Claim:
An apparatus for providing access to a body lumen, comprising: a tubular member extending from a proximal end thereof to a distal end thereof, the distal end being tapered and sized for insertion into the body lumen, and the tubular member defining a lumen that extends from the proximal end to the distal end; an elongate stiffening member extending distally, from the distal end of the tubular member to a flexible distal terminal tip of the elongate stiffening member, the elongate stiffening member being fixedly attached to the tubular member and defining another lumen that extends into the flexible distal terminal tip; an expandable sheath including a proximal end and a distal terminal end, the proximal end being fixedly attached directly to the distal end of the tubular member such that the proximal end of the sheath surrounds and overlies the distal end of the tubular member, the sheath extending distally from the distal end of the tubular member, over a length that is less than an overall length of the tubular member, and along at least a portion of the elongate stiffening member, the sheath being expandable from a contracted condition, to minimize a profile of the sheath to allow insertion along with the elongate stiffening member into a body lumen, to an enlarged condition, at which enlarged condition the sheath defines a lumen, the sheath lumen communicating with the tubular member lumen and including a distal opening, the distal opening terminating the sheath lumen and being defined by a portion of a perimeter of the distal terminal end of the sheath that becomes spaced apart from the elongate stiffening member, when the expandable sheath is expanded, and the distal opening allowing passage, therethrough, of a medical instrument into the body lumen, the medical instrument having been passed through the tubular member lumen and through the sheath lumen, alongside the elongate stiffening member; and a stylet insertable into, and removable from the elongate stiffening member lumen for changing a shape of the flexible distal terminal tip.