Wire guide control handle

A wire guide control handle comprising:

• an elongated member having a passageway extending longitudinally therein for receiving a wire guide, a proximal portion of said passageway being enclosed, a distal portion of said passageway including a channel for receipt and retention of a slide, said channel including a support surface for supporting said wire guide;
• and
• a slide positioned and slidable in said channel and having a bottom surface for engaging and fixedly positioning said wire guide in said channel, said slide having a plurality of positions in said channel and being slidable in said channel such that said bottom surface of said slide and said support surface of said channel are substantially parallel to one another and variably spaced form one another at all of said positions of said slide in said channel.

A wire guide control handle comprising an elongated member (12) having a passageway (15) for the support and passage therethrough of a wire guide (11) and wire guide channel means (19) in communication with the passageway and also serving to support the wire guide therein, said handle also comprising a slidable member (13) having a surface (42) thereof slidably movable in a channel (19) of said channel means (19) and serving to engage with or disengage from the wire guide when in the channel in order to lock or release the guide in said channel means (19), and means (17,22) for causing the slidable member to slide along an axis inclined to a wire guide support surface (43,67) of said channel means (19), characterized in that said slidable member surface (42) extends only over one planar wire guide support surface and is substantially parallel to said wire guide support surface (43,67) during all of the movement of the slidable member and that the passageway (15) is enclosed about a proximal portion thereof, and in that a distal portion of the passageway is channelled to receive and retain the slidable member, and to receive and position the wire guide on the wire guide support surface (43,67).