Patent ID: 7947012

Claim:
An elongate aspiration catheter for removing emboli or other particles from a blood vessel, the catheter comprising: an elongate tubular shaft having an aspiration lumen defined by a shaft wall and fluidly connecting a proximal fluid port to an aspiration port disposed at a distal end of the elongate tubular shaft; an elastically deformable tip disposed at the distal end of the elongate tubular shaft, the tip defining the aspiration port and being deformable to enable manipulation of the aspiration port between orthogonal and oblique configurations; at least one core wire lumen within at least a portion of the shaft wall, the at least one core wire lumen extending longitudinally from the elastically deformable tip to a control handle operably connected to a connector fitting mounted at a proximal end of the elongate tubular member; and at least one core wire slidably disposed within the at least one core wire lumen and operatively connected, at its distal end, to the tip and extending from the elastically deformable tip to the control handle; wherein the elastically deformable tip is reversibly transformable between varying configurations in which the aspiration port is selectively shaped in orthogonal or oblique shapes in response to longitudinally directed force applied to the tip by the at least one core wire.