Patent ID: 7963915

Claim:
A method of decompressing impinged neural and neurovascular tissue of a patient's spine, the method comprising: passing a guidewire from outside of a patient's body at a first location, through a spinal neural foramen between a spinal nerve root or ganglia and a facet joint complex, and out of the patient's body at a second location; coupling a tissue abrasion device to the guidewire after passing the guidewire through the spinal neural foramen, wherein the tissue abrasion device comprises an elongate, flexible, ribbon-shaped body having an axial length and first and second surfaces each having a width and separated from each other by a thickness, wherein the axial length is greater than the width and the width is greater than the thickness, wherein the first surface is an abrasive surface extending along one side of the ribbon-shape body that is opposite to the second surface, and the second surface is a non-abrasive surface, the tissue abrasion device having a proximal end and a distal end; and positioning the tissue abrasion device within the neural foramen using the guidewire, so that the abrasive surface of the tissue abrasion device faces the facet joint complex and the non-abrasive surface faces the spinal nerve root or ganglia; wherein the coupling step further comprises coupling the tissue abrasion device to the proximal end of the guidewire from outside of the patient's body, after advancing the guidewire into the body.