Patent ID: 7972352

Claim:
An embolic protection system comprising: a guidewire for advancing through a vasculature, the guidewire having a distal end and a proximal end; an embolic protection filter having a filter body with a distal end and a proximal end, the filter body providing for a collapsed configuration and an expanded deployed configuration; the embolic protection filter body having a guidewire path for slidably receiving the guidewire to permit movement of the filter relative to the guidewire when the filter is in the collapsed configuration and the expanded deployed configuration; a delivery catheter advanceable over the guidewire for delivery of the embolic protection filter; the delivery catheter having a proximal end and a distal end, the filter being deployed from the distal end of the delivery catheter into the expanded deployed configuration; and engagement elements for engaging the embolic protection filter with the guidewire, wherein the engagement elements comprise a guidewire engagement element slidably disposed on the guidewire and a filter engagement element fixed to the filter, the engagement elements co-operating to provide selective engagement and positioning of the filter with respect to the guidewire, the guidewire engagement element comprising a releasble tapered locking ring slidably disposed on the guidewire, the releasable tapered locking ring having a tapered surface on the outside thereof and the filter engagement element comprising an inner tapered surface, the inner tapered surface of the filter engagement element engageable with the outer tapered surface of the releasable tapered locking ring, thereby causing the releasable tapered locking ring to frictionally engage the guidewire to selectively lock the filter to the guidewire.