generally described herein are apparatus , systems and methods related to utilizing a guiding tip to connect two open ends of respective tubes of a gastric banding system . more particularly , one of these tubes may include a barbed element at or near the point of connection which makes it difficult to connect the two tubes as the barbed element may be larger than an opening to receive the barbed element . the guiding tip provides a solution to this problem by acting as an interface between the barbed element and the receiving tube . in this manner , the sealing functionality of the barbed element may be retained while improving the ease of inserting the barbed element into the receiving tube .