Patent ID: 8771287

Claim:
A method for creating a tract for nephrostomy tube creation comprising the steps: a) providing a puncture wire having a tissue penetrating tip shielded in a sheath, the puncture wire slidable within the sheath and releasably lockingly engaged thereto; b) inserting the puncture wire and sheath in a first direction through a working channel of an ureteroscope to exit the channel of the ureteroscope; c) releasing the puncture wire from the sheath and advancing the puncture wire a first distance from the sheath while visualizing the position of the puncture wire; d) advancing the puncture wire and the sheath into a selected calyx and through a flank of a patient; e) removing the puncture wire from the sheath in one of the first direction or a second direction different from the first direction; and f) inserting a guidewire through the sheath.