Patent ID: 7048717

Claim:
A threaded introducer system for accessing a bodily passageway, said introducer system comprising: a flexible tube having a distal end and a proximal end, a longitudinal axis extending between said distal end and said proximal end, and a lumes extending from said distal end to said proximal end, said lumen being sized to receive an object to be transported through the bodily passage; apparatus for connecting the object received within said lumen to said tube, said apparatus comprising a rotary coupling attached to said object and said tube such that said object attached to said rotary coupling may rotate freely about said longitudinal axis of said tube while being longitudinally fixed to said tube; and an external thread disposed over said distal end of said tube, said external thread having a sufficient structural integrity, and a sufficient surface profile, such that when said tube is disposed in a bodily passageway, rotation of said tube about said longitudinal axis will result in longitudinal action of said tube along said bodily passageway.