摘要 |
A balloon angioplasty apparatus includes a guide wire, a balloon catheter, and a guide catheter. The balloon catheter has slots formed in it to define a plurality of elongate members between the slots. A joint is formed at the proximal, distal, and mid-point of each elongate member. Displacing the proximal and distal joints toward one another causes the respective middle joints to displace radially outwardly, and radial inward travel of the middle joints is caused by increasing the distance between the proximal and distal joints. A mesh that captures emboli overlies the jointed members and opens and closes with them. The guide catheter is used to close the joined members and the emboli-capturing mesh at the conclusion of the angioplasty procedure. In a second embodiment, the jointed members are formed in a delivery catheter. In a third embodiment, the jointed members are formed in a guide wire.
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