Patent ID: 8029461

Claim:
A guide catheter for providing access to a vessel of the body for passage of an interventional catheter therethrough comprising; A. a hollow tubular member having a tensioning element at its proximal end and having a portion of said hollow tubular member that is formable into a loop region, said hollow tubular member having an open distal end, and an access lumen extending from said proximal end to said distal end, B. a fiber forming at least one attachment point to said distal end of said loop region at one or more locations and extending through at least one fiber opening proximal to said fiber attachment point, C. said tensioning element being able to apply and hold tension to said fiber to form said hollow tubular member into a closed loop in said loop region by placing said fiber attachment point into close approximation with said fiber opening, D. at least one of said fiber attachment points or said fiber openings holds said fiber via releasable attachments that encircle said fiber, said releasable attachments being able to be opened to release said fiber and provide translation of location of said closed loop along said hollow tubular member.