Patent ID: 8062316

Claim:
A catheter for delivering a guidewire across an occlusion, the catheter comprising: a catheter tube; a rotatable cutting head comprising a helical protrusion; a protective sheath at the distal end of the catheter tube comprising one or more helical slots extending laterally through the sidewall of the sheath, wherein the rotatable cutting head is configured to extend distally from the protective sheath by rotating the helical protrusion out of the slot, wherein the entire distal end of the outer edge of the helical protrusion extends to the outer surface of protective sheath when the helical protrusion is retracted into the helical sheath; a torque communicating connector configured to apply a torque to the rotatable cutting head from the proximal end of the catheter to rotate and extend the cutting head distally forward at least partially outside of said protective sheath; and a guidewire passageway extending proximally to distally through the catheter tube.