Patent ID: 7615032

Claim:
A controller for facilitating manual control of a guidewire, the controller comprising: a housing having a longitudinal axis and an elongate aperture that extends substantially along the longitudinal axis and radially through the surface of the housing to a guidewire channel for receiving and releasing a length of the guidewire; a cap; and a collet sized to be axially received by the housing and having a longitudinal axis, an elongate aperture that extends substantially along the longitudinal axis and radially through the surface of the collet, and a first end for engagement with the housing and a second end for engagement with the cap, wherein said collet is fully detached from said housing and further comprises a plurality of slots; wherein the housing has a leading end formed to receive the collet and, upon receipt of the collet, to apply a radially inward force on the collet, the housing being further formed to releasably engage the cap and to align the collet via insertion of a spline that fits within the guidewire channel of said housing into one slot of said plurality slots of the collet, wherein the spline is configured to maintain alignment of the elongate aperture of the collet and the elongate aperture of the housing when the collet is received by the housing; and wherein the cap is formed to be releasably engaged by the housing and upon engagement by the housing, to apply a radially inward force on the collet.