摘要 |
An expandable intraluminal catheter (10) is used for removing occlusive material from a body passage. The catheter includes a handle having both a proximal handle end and a distal handle end. Attached to the distal handle end (12) is an elongate tubular body (16), which includes a proximal body end and a distal body end. The elongate tubular body (16) further includes a lumen between the proximal body end and the distal body end. A number of expandable segments (17) are disposed on the elongate tubular body (16) near the distal body end. These expandable segments (17) can be mechanically activated by a user when the distal body end is within a blood vessel, to thereby isolate and partition occlusive material within the blood vessel. The isolated and partitioned occlusive material within the blood vessel can then be removed.
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