Patent ID: 8460358

Claim:
A method of performing an intervention at a treatment site through a vascular penetration in a vessel, the method comprising: providing an interventional device comprising: a catheter shaft; an interventional element coupled to a distal extremity of the catheter shaft; and a guidewire tube having a distal portion coupled to the distal extremity of the catheter shaft and a proximal portion separate from the catheter shaft; a collar forming first and second longitudinal passageways, each passageway forming a lumen; placing a distal end of a guidewire through the vascular penetration into the vessel; inserting the catheter shaft through the first longitudinal passageway of the collar; inserting the guidewire tube through the second longitudinal passageway of the collar, the lumen of the second longitudinal passageway being unconnected and discrete from the lumen of the first longitudinal passageway; inserting the guidewire through at least a portion of the guidewire tube, wherein a proximal end of the guidewire extends out of a slit in a wall of the guidewire tube; positioning the interventional device through the vascular penetration; positioning the collar adjacent the vascular penetration, the collar being slidably disposed over the catheter shaft and the guidewire tube; and advancing the interventional device through the vessel to position the interventional element at the treatment site by distally advancing the catheter shaft and guidewire tube relative to the collar; wherein the collar comprises a wire guide that extends through the slit in the guidewire tube, and wherein distally advancing the guidewire tube relative to the collar guides the guidewire through the wire guide into the guidewire tube.