Interventional catheter system and methods

An interventional catheter system for treating a blood vessel, comprising:

• an elongate shaft sized for insertion in a blood vessel;
• an expandable dilation member coupled to a distal region of the elongate shaft, the expandable dilation member adapted to expand outward to dilate a stent;
• and
• a flush lumen coupled to the elongate shaft wherein at least one exit port is positioned at a distal region of the flush lumen so that fluid can flow out of the flush lumen through the exit port into the blood vessel.

An interventional catheter for treating a blood vessel, comprising:

• an elongate shaft sized for insertion in a blood vessel;
• an expandable dilation member coupled to a distal region of the elongate shaft, the expandable dilation member adapted to expand outward to dilate a stent;
• and
• an expandable occlusion member coupled to a distal region of the elongate shaft, the expandable dilation member adapted to expand outward to occlude a blood vessel at a location distal of the expandable dilation member.

An interventional catheter for treating a blood vessel, comprising:

• an elongate shaft sized for insertion in a blood vessel;
• an expandable occlusion member coupled to a distal region of the elongate shaft, the expandable occlusion member adapted to expand outward to occlude a blood vessel;
• and
• a flush lumen coupled to the elongate shaft wherein at least one exit port is positioned at a distal region of the flush lumen so that fluid can flow out of the flush lumen through the exit port into the blood vessel.

A method for treating a carotid artery, comprising:

• forming a penetration in a wall of a common carotid artery;
• positioning an arterial access sheath through the penetration;
• inserting a catheter through the sheath into a treatment site comprised of the internal carotid artery or the bifurcation between the internal and external carotid arteries, wherein the catheter includes an expandable stent, a stent containment member, and an expandable dilation member;
• releasing the stent so that the stent expands and deploys at the treatment site;
• repositioning the catheter so that the dilation member is positioned inside the deployed stent;
• and
• expanding the dilation member to post-dilate the stent.

A method for treating a carotid artery, comprising:

• forming a penetration in a wall of a common carotid artery;
• positioning an arterial access sheath through the penetration;
• inserting a catheter through the sheath into a treatment site comprised of the internal carotid artery or the bifurcation between the internal and external carotid arteries, wherein the catheter includes an expandable stent, a stent containment member, an expandable dilation member that dilates a stent and also includes a lumen through which flush fluid flows and an exit port through which flush lumen exits the catheter;
• releasing the stent so that the stent expands and deploys at the treatment site;
• positioning the catheter so that the dilation member is positioned inside the deployed stent;
• expanding the dilation member to post-dilate the stent;
• and
• passing flush fluid through the flush lumen and out of the exit port or aspirating blood into the flush lumen via the exit port.

A method for treating a carotid artery, comprising:

• forming a penetration in a wall of a common carotid artery;
• positioning an arterial access sheath through the penetration;
• inserting a first catheter through the access sheath and using the first catheter to deploy a stent into a treatment site comprised of the internal carotid artery or the bifurcation between the internal and external carotid arteries;
• positioning a second catheter through the sheath into the treatment site, wherein the second catheter includes an expandable dilation member that expands outward to dilate a stent and an expandable occlusion member that expands outward to occlude the internal carotid artery at a location distal of the expandable dilation member;
• positioning the second catheter so that the dilation member is positioned inside the deployed stent and the occlusion member is positioned in the distal internal carotid artery;
• expanding the dilation member to post-dilate the stent;
• and
• expanding the occlusion member to occlude the internal carotid artery.

A method for treating a carotid artery, comprising:

• forming a penetration in a wall of a common carotid artery;
• positioning an arterial access sheath through the penetration;
• inserting a catheter through the sheath into a treatment site comprised of the internal carotid artery or the bifurcation between the internal and external carotid arteries, wherein the catheter includes an expandable occlusion member that expands to occlude an artery and also includes a lumen through which fluid may be flushed or aspirated and an exit port through which flush lumen exits the catheter;
• positioning the catheter so that the occlusion member is positioned in the internal carotid artery;
• expanding the occlusion member to occlude the internal carotid artery;
• and
• flushing fluid through the flush lumen and out of the exit port.

A method for treating a carotid artery, comprising:

• forming a penetration in a wall of a common carotid artery;
• positioning an arterial access sheath through the penetration;
• causing retrograde blood flow from the carotid artery into the sheath;
• inserting a stent delivery catheter through the sheath into a treatment site comprised of the internal carotid artery or the bifurcation between the internal and external carotid arteries;
• releasing the stent so that the stent expands and deploys at the treatment site.