Patent ID: 7214229

Claim:
A device for capturing an obstruction within a passageway, the device comprising: a flexible tubular body having: a proximal end; a distal end; and at least two expandable portions separated from each other along the length of the body; wherein each of the at least two expandable portions of the tubular body comprises a plurality of flexible elongate members defined by a plurality of slits cut in the wall of the tubular body that are helically oriented relative to a longitudinal axis of the tubular body such that, when the tubular body is in a contracted state, adjacent ones of the flexible elongate members so touch that the tubular body forms an internal lumen and a smooth exterior surface, the flexible elongate members being expandable to form a cage when the expandable portion is expanded to an increased diameter state, in which adjacent members are so spaced apart as to form apertures through which the obstruction can enter the cage, the cage being generally centered about the longitudinal axis of the tubular body between the proximal end and the distal end, and flanked on either side along the longitudinal axis by unslitted portions of the flexible tubular body; wherein the at least two expandable portions are separated by a first unslitted portion, so that the tubular body has at least three unslitted portions alternating with at least two expandable portions along the longitudinal axis of the tubular body; and wherein the flexible tubular body is formed from a material so flexible that twisting the tubular body in a first direction transitions the tubular body to the expanded state, and twisting the tubular body in a second direction opposite to the first direction transitions the tubular body to the contracted state.