Vascular filter systems with guidewire and capture mechanism

Abstract

Abstract A removable vascular filter system for blocking micro- and macro-emboli while allowing the continued perfusion of blood comprises a filter membrane positioned on a guidewire, wherein a free end of the membrane sits tightly against the guidewire when the filter membrane is in a collapsed state and wherein the filter has a means for deploying the filter membrane to assume a position substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the guidewire. The filter membrane is comprised of a fine mesh material which has a pore size capable of blocking emboli while allowing continued blood flow, a preferred embodiment of which comprises regularly spaced, laser-formed holes, and in which the membrane has a scalloped proximal profile. A capture mechanism is similarly described.

Inventors

• 👤 Kirk Johnson
• 👤 Robert P. Letendre

Bibliographic Details