Patent ID: 8529614

Claim:
A method, of treating a patient's vessel, comprising: providing a elongate body within a catheter, the elongate body comprising a proximal portion having a proximal end, a distal portion having a distal end, and a lumen extending between the proximal end and the distal end, wherein at least one cutting member is mounted directly to an outer surface of the catheter; providing within the elongate body a stent comprising a distal section and a proximal section and having a compressed configuration along an entire length of the stent when within the elongate body and an expanded configuration when released from the elongate body, the stent being configured to change from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration; advancing the distal portion of the elongate body to a treatment site of the patient's vessel; moving the stent, in the compressed configuration, distally relative to the elongate body; changing the distal section of the stent from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration in the patient's vessel, such that the distal section of the stent engages a wall of the vessel; treating the vessel by moving the catheter rotationally relative to the elongate body, while the distal section remains engaged with, and rotationally fixed relative to, the wall, such that material in the vessel proximal to the distal section becomes at least partially dislodged from the vessel wall; withdrawing the elongate body proximally relative to the stent, such that the proximal section of the stent changes from the compressed configuration to the expanded configuration; and trapping the material between the stent and the vessel wall.