Combined needle protector and guidewire feeder

Claim 1

A combination for assisting in the insertion of a guidewire into a vessel which comprises: (a) a needle hub with an attached percutaneous needle having a lumen for feeding a guidewire into a vessel, said needle hub having a receiving recess at a proximal end, the proximal end of said needle extending centrally into said receiving recess, the recess having a dimension to provide a space between said extending needle and the inner wall of said recess, (b) a stylet hub with an attached stylet to be received in the lumen of said needle and having a portion on said stylet hub to be received in said recess of said needle hub during a percutaneous procedure, and (c) a combination protector guard and guidewire guide selectively usable as a guard and a guide which comprises a hollow quill having a central elongate passage to receive, enclose, and frictionally engage said needle when said needle is not being used, and having a projection portion usable selectively to insert into the space of said receiving recess around the proximal end of said needle, the elongate passage of said quill having a progressively decreasing dimension from the proximal end to the distal end to feed a guidewire from the proximal end to said needle lumen after removal of the stylet from a vessel.