| abstract |
A catheter (10) can restore the patency of a body lumen, for example by removing tissue from a body lumen (e.g., a blood vessel). The catheter can be a rotational catheter having a rotatable drive shaft and a tissue-removing element (12) secured to the drive shaft to be driven in rotation by the drive shaft. The catheter can have an abrasive burr (12) configured to abrade tissue in a body lumen. The catheter can have an expandable tissue-removing element (12). The catheter can include a balloon and an inflation conduit. The catheter can also be configured to move over a guidewire (G) through a body lumen. In one embodiment, the catheter comprises an over-the-wire, balloon-expandable, rotational, and abrasive tissue-removing catheter. |