Patent ID: 7505812

Claim:
A catheter system for maintaining patency in a body passage having an intraluminal prosthesis positioned therein, the prosthesis having a cylindrical wall, wherein occlusive media has grown through or around the cylindrical wall of the prosthesis and into the body passage, the catheter system comprising: a catheter body having a distal end portion and a proximal end portion, the distal end portion being sized to pass through the prosthesis; at least one active electrode positioned on the distal end portion of the catheter body; a return electrode positioned on the distal end portion of the catheter body; and at least one connector extending through the catheter body for electrically coupling the at least one active electrode and the return electrode to a source of high frequency electrical energy; wherein said at least one active electrode and said return electrode are sized and positioned such that electrically conductive fluid in a pathway between said electrodes forms a plasma when selected voltage potentials are applied to said electrodes from said source of high frequency electrical energy, and wherein said occlusive media is disintegrated by said plasma wherein said at least one active electrode and said return electrode are configured such that current flow through the prosthesis is minimized and wherein the catheter system further comprises an electrically insulating support member affixed to the distal end portion of the catheter body, the at least one active electrode being secured within the support member, and the support member comprising an inorganic material and wherein the support member has a central lumen therethrough, and wherein the catheter system further comprises a guidewire disposed within the central lumen, wherein the catheter body is axially and rotationally moveable with respect to the guidewire.