Patent ID: 8475488

Claim:
A retrievable blood clot filter comprising: a filter section having a plurality of filter legs; a releasable lock; and an alignment section coupled to the filter section, a shaft positioned along a longitudinal axis of the alignment section and coupled to both the alignment section and the filter section, the alignment section is longitudinally spaced from the filter section in a non-overlapping manner, the alignment section having a plurality of alignment ribs having releasable upstream ends releasably coupled by an interference friction fit to the releasable lock, the releasable lock capable of releasing at least one releasable upstream end of the alignment ribs in response to a longitudinal force applied to the at least one releasable upstream end during retrieval of the retrievable blood clot filter by retrieval device, the released upstream end of the alignment rib being a free end, wherein the alignment section is self expandable into a deployed state while the releasable upstream ends are locked by the releasable lock.