Patent ID: 8246640

Claim:
A method of cutting tissue at a vascular location, comprising the steps of: providing a tissue cutting device having an elongate body with an outer surface and a lumen, a tissue cutting element, and a sizer, at least a portion of the sizer being contained within the lumen of the elongate body, the tissue cutting element being coupled to the elongate body and being movable relative to the body to a plurality of different operating positions relative to the body, the sizer also being movable relative to the body in response to a size of a vascular location in which the tissue cutting device is positioned, the sizer being operatively coupled within the lumen of the elongate body to the tissue cutting element so that the tissue cutting element is in one of the plurality of different operating positions in response to a position of the sizer; advancing the tissue cutting device through a blood vessel; positioning the tissue cutting device at a vascular location, the sizer automatically moving in response to a change in the size of the vascular location in which the tissue cutting device is positioned and the tissue cutting element moving relative to the body at the vascular location in response to movement of the sizer; and cutting tissue with the tissue cutting element.