US Patent 7172577 Guidewire locking device and method

A locking device (21) is provided that is fixedly mounted to a catheter (34) and used to frictionally secure a guidewire (36) to the catheter (34) so that the guidewire (36) and catheter (34) may be advanced together. In one embodiment of the present invention, the locking device (21) comprises a J-shaped catch (22) integrally formed with a guidewire introducer (10) fixedly mounted to the catheter shaft (38). Once the guidewire (36) has been inserted into the shaft (38) via the guidewire introducer (10), the operator may insert the guidewire into the J-shaped catch (22). The guidewire (36) can then be released by sliding the guidewire (36) out of the J-shaped catch (22).