Patent ID: 7637920

Claim:
A method for delivering and recovering an embolic protection device within a patient's blood vessel, the method comprising: providing a catheter comprising an elongated member configured to be advanced along a vascular path of a patient, the elongated member having opposite first and second ends and corresponding first and second end portions, the first end and second ends both being adapted for intravascular insertion, the first end portion comprising a delivery sheath, the second end portion comprising a retrieval sheath, the delivery sheath comprising at least one sidewall port adapted for receiving a wire, and the catheter having a lumen between the first end and the at least one sidewall port; providing a guide wire having a proximal end and a distal end; advancing the guide wire to a target site within the patient's blood vessel; and advancing the catheter over the guide wire by inserting the guide wire through the catheter lumen between the first end and the at least one sidewall port, the first end being the distal most tip of the catheter, wherein an embolic protection device is loaded into the catheter prior to advancing the catheter over the guide wire, wherein the catheter is advanced over the guide wire to a treatment site and the embolic protection device is advanced out of the catheter through the delivery sheath, wherein after the embolic protection device is advanced out of the catheter, the catheter is removed from the patient's blood vessel, the catheter is reversed such that the second end is the distal most tip of the catheter, the catheter is reintroduced into the patient's blood vessel, and the embolic protection device is recovered into the retrieval sheath.