Abstract: An atherectomy catheter is advanced over a guide wire in the anterograde direction to the site of an arterial stenosis. The distal end of the catheter is centered around the guide wire which has been previously advanced through the stenotic lumen. The catheter is then advanced over the guide wire with its sharpened distal end cutting through the stenosis. The atherectomy catheter can also employ rotation or vibration or an electrocautery current to enhance the catheter's cutting action. Suction applied at the catheter's proximal end is used to enhance the collection of plaque cut from the stenosis at the catheter's distal end so that the cut plaque enters a single passageway that lies between the outer surface of the guide wire and the inner surface of the cylindrical catheter.

Abstract: Disclosed is an Expandable Pullback Atherectomy Catheter (EPAC) comprising a distal tip portion capable of assuming two diameters. The distal tip portion includes an expandable cutting means and an expandable tissue collecting means. The catheter is guided in an artery to the stenosis and the distal tip is urged past the stenosis while being maintained in a compressed state by a sheathing catheter. The sheathing catheter is withdrawn allowing the cutting means and collecting means to expand. The stenotic tissue is removed by pulling the distal tip back in a retrograde direction while the cut tissue is captured in the collecting means. Additional structural details are provided to prevent injury to the inner wall of an artery and to avoid total obstruction of the artery during the antherectomy procedure.

Abstract: This invention is in the field of percutaneous insertion catheters that are used for placing a coil spring stent into a vessel of a living body for the purposes of enhancing luminal dilation, preventing arterial restenosis and preventing vessel blockage resulting from intimal dissection following balloon and other methods of angioplasty. The stent can also be used for the maintaining patency of many different ducts or vessels within a living body.

Abstract: An atherectomy apparatus and method is disclosed for the purpose of surgical excision of atheromas which typically consist of plaque deposits that cause narrowing (stenosis) of an artery. The apparatus, called a pullback atherectomy catheter, cuts and collects obstructive material into a collection chamber as the catheter is pulled back through obstructive material within a human vessel such as an artery.