Patent ID: 7214234

Claim:
A device for removing a portion of the wall of a coronary vessel located adjacent the wall of a patients heart, the device comprising: a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end; a tissue-removing mechanism disposed adjacent the distal end of the shaft, wherein the tissue-removing mechanism is disposed at a predetermined distance with respect to the distal end of the shaft so that the distal end of the shaft may be placed at a location adjacent the wall of a coronary vessel that positions the tissue-removing mechanism against the wall of the coronary vessel; an actuator coupled to the tissue-removing mechanism for selectively actuating the mechanism to remove a portion of the wall of the coronary vessel without removing a substantial portion of the wall of the heart located adjacent the coronary vessel, wherein the tissue-removing mechanism comprises an ablating instrument having at least one portion that contacts and ablates a portion of the wall of the coronary artery when the actuator is actuated, and wherein the ablating instrument is mounted on a movable sleeve coupled to the shaft, the actuator being coupled to the sleeve to move the ablating instrument into contact with the portion of the wall of the coronary artery to be removed.