Patent ID: 8603131

Claim:
A method for providing embolic protection, comprising: advancing a guidewire through a vascular system of a patient to a treatment site, the guidewire comprising a distal stop; advancing a filter element over the guidewire to the treatment site, the filter element being movable between a collapsed stored position for movement through the vascular system and an expanded position for occluding a blood vessel such that blood passing through the blood vessel is delivered through the filter element but embolic material is retained in the filter element; and deploying the filter element into the expanded position to make tubular engagement with a wall of the blood vessel, wherein the filter element comprises a filter membrane and a filter frame to support the filter membrane in the expanded position, the filter membrane comprises a proximal inlet end having a frusto-conical shape tapering proximally and one or more inlet openings, a distal outlet end having a frusto-conical shape tapering distally and a plurality of outlet openings, and an intermediate section defining a cylinder that extends from a distal end of the inlet end to the proximal end of the outlet end, the cylinder-shaped intermediate section making the tubular engagement with the vessel wall in the expanded position, and the guidewire is free to move axially independent of the filter, but proximal retraction of the guidewire causes the distal stop to abut a distal end of the filter element.