Temporary vascular filter guide wire

A vascular filter guide wire for directing precision placement of a catheter with respect to a lesion and filtering particulate matter dislodged by treatment of said lesion, said guide wire including:

• an actuating mechanism;
• an elongated flexible core wire having a proximal end attached to said actuating mechanism and a distal end for insertion and steerage through a patient's vasculature to a position downstream of said lesion;
• a tubular flexible shaft slidably disposed along said core wire, said shaft including a proximal portion affixed to said actuating mechanism in movable relation to said wire, and a distal portion disposed inwardly from the distal end of said core wire for placement downstream of said lesion;
• a locking mechanism to maintain said filter in an extended position during lesion treatment;
• and
• a collapsible filter coupled to said shaft distal portion, said filter including a collapsible support cage having respective front and back halves for slidably extending and retracting axially along said wire, said cage having a first end fixed to the distal extremity of said shaft, and an opposite end mounted to said core wire distal end, said strainer further including a continuous woven mesh disposed within said support cage for straining particulate matter and operable, in response to manual manipulation of said actuating mechanism to effect relative displacement between said shaft and said core wire, to radially extend outwardly within said vasculature and trap particulate matter arising from the treatment of said lesion.

A method of filtering particulate debris from a vasculature caused by treatment of a lesion with a lesion treatment device, said catheter guided to the location of said lesion by a vascular filter guide wire having a core wire, a slidable shaft, and a manually collapsible filter mounted on the shaft and deployable upon relative displacement between said core wire and said shaft, said method including the steps of:

• guiding said vascular filter guide wire through said vasculature along a predetermined path to a lesion such that said filter is disposed downstream of said lesion;
• deploying said filter radially outwardly by shifting said shaft relative to said core wire;
• running said catheter over said guide wire along said predetermined path to position said lesion treatment device proximate said lesion;
• treating said lesion according to a predetermined procedure;
• maintaining said filter in a deployed position to trap particulate matter dislodged during said lesion treatment and prevent said matter from progressing downstream;
• withdrawing said catheter from said vasculature;
• retracting said filter radially inwardly by shifting said shaft back to said original position;
• and
• removing said guide wire from said vasculature.

A method of fabricating a vascular filter, said method including the steps of:

• selecting a mandrel having a plurality of consecutively connected forms;
• weaving a continuous layer of braid over said consecutively connected forms;
• bonding said braid filaments at spaced apart sections between respective forms;
• separating said respective braided forms at said bonded sections;
• and
• removing said forms from said layer of braid.