Patent ID: 7922741

Claim:
An embolic protection filter comprising: a shaped polymeric membrane having a proximal inlet end and a distal outlet end, the inlet end of the filter membrane having a single inlet hole sized to allow blood and embolic material enter the filter membrane, the outlet end of the filter membrane having a plurality of outlet openings sized to allow through passage of blood but to retain undesired embolic material within the filter membrane; a support frame to support the filter membrane in an expanded position; a proximal collar for coupling the filter to a guidewire, a proximal end of the support frame coupled to the collar via a flexible tether, the tether being movable independently of the support frame; and a distal coupling part for directly coupling the support frame to a guidewire; wherein the proximal collar is separate from and longitudinally spaced apart from the distal coupling part; and the support frame couples the proximal collar to the distal coupling part.