Patent ID: 7524319

Claim:
A medical device, for use in removing particles from a cardiovascular lumen within the body for treatment of cardiovascular disease, comprising: an outer, hollow tube having a tube distal end, the tube adapted for insertion into a cardiovascular lumen; a self-expanding porous braided structure having a distal part and a proximal part; means, housed within the tube and having a distal end positioned distally of the tube distal end, for moving the braided structure from a contracted condition to an expanded condition by moving at least one of the tube distal end and the moving means distal end towards the other; and the porous braided structure comprising: a porous proximal side and a porous distal side; the distal side having smaller pores than the proximal side to inhibit particles from moving completely through the braided structure when in the expanded condition within the cardiovascular lumen.