Temporary vascular filter guide wire

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

• an elongated flexible core wire being insertable and steerable through a patient's vasculature to a position downstream of said lesion;
• a tubular flexible shaft disposed along said core wire;
• a collapsible filter being coupled at its distal end to said shaft and including a spring operable to radially extend said filter outwardly within said vasculature in order for said filter to trap particulate matter arising from the treatment of said lesion;
• said core wire including a filter housing for confining said filter in a closed configuration;
• an actuating mechanism operable to actuate said spring in order to radially extend said filter;
• and
• said spring further including:
• a plurality of radially spaced apart support struts defining a cage and interconnected through a woven peripheral mesh;
• and
• a biasing element collapsibly hinged at one end along a common radial path on said shaft to bias said struts radially outwardly in an open state.

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

• an elongated flexible core wire having a proximal end and a distal end, said elongated flexible core wire being insertable and steerable 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 and a distal portion disposed proximally of said core wire distal end for placement downstream of said lesion;
• a collapsible filter coupled at its proximal end to said distal portion of said shaft and at its distal end to said core wire, said filter operable in response to the 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;
• and
• a deployment/retraction mechanism including:
• a base formed with a thread ed passage for confining the proximal portion of said shaft;
• and
• a manually rotatable control element, said control element formed with a threaded hollow shank and mounted to the proximal end of said wire, said control element operable to threadably engage said passage and incrementally urge relative axial displacement between said shaft and said wire to extend and retract said filter.

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

• an elongated flexible core wire having a proximal end and a distal end, said elongated flexible core wire being insertable and steerable 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 and a distal portion disposed proximally of said core wire distal end for placement down stream of said lesion;
• a collapsible filter coupled at its proximal end to said distal portion of said shaft and at its distal end to said core wire, said filter operable in response to the 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, said collapsible filter including a continuous woven mesh having a plurality of longitudinal pleats for straining particulate matter;
• an d
• a cylindrical support cage having a closed distal end and a flared proximal end, said distal end fixed to said core wire, and said proximal end extending axially and mounted to said shaft.