Patent ID: 8080000

Claim:
A seeker/guide system accessing a paranasal sinus of a patient, said system comprising: a luminal seeker apparatus comprising: i) a rigid shaft having a distal end, a proximal end, a proximal region, a bend closer to the distal end than to the proximal end, and a length configured to extend from just outside of a nostril of a patient to an opening of a paranasal sinus of the patient; ii) an enlarged, atraumatic tip at the distal end of the shaft; and iii) a lumen extending through the shaft and terminating distally in an opening in the atraumatic tip; and a guidewire advanceable through the lumen of the luminal seeker apparatus and into a paranasal sinus of the patient; wherein the luminal seeker apparatus further comprises a slit along a portion of the length of the shaft, starting at the proximal region, through which the guidewire may be withdrawn, and extending to just proximal of the atraumatic tip.