Patent ID: 8740961

Claim:
A method of treating a target site within a vascular channel of the body using a catheter assembly, the catheter assembly comprising (1) a proximal occluder having an inner lumen and an occlusion element at its distal end and (2) a distal occluder comprising a wire having an occlusion element at a distal end of the wire, the method comprising: positioning the proximal occluder in a vascular channel-occluding state within the vascular channel with its occlusion element at a first position proximal of a target site thereby occluding the vascular channel at the first position, the vascular channel having an inner wall; advancing the distal occluder through the lumen of the proximal occluder to position the occlusion element of the distal occluder in a vascular channel-occluding state within the vascular channel at a second position distal of the target site thereby occluding the vascular channel at the second position and thereby defining a region between the distal and proximal occluders; injecting an agent into the region; advancing an interventional catheter over the wire of the distal occluder to position an interventional element between the two occlusion elements, the interventional element comprising a stent structure configured to support and maintain pressure against the inner wall and an expandable balloon located within the stent structure; performing an intervention at the target site with the interventional element while the occlusion elements of the distal and proximal occluders are in their vascular channel-occluding states and the agent is in the region, wherein performing the intervention comprises: (i) expanding the balloon to expand the stent structure against the inner wall of the vascular channel, (ii) collapsing the balloon leaving the stent structure expanded against the inner wall to maintain pressure against the inner wall, (iii) leaving the stent structure expanded against the inner wall for a period of time to inhibit elastic recoil of the inner wall while the balloon is collapsed to allow the occluded region to be bathed by the injected agent through the stent structure, and (iv) collapsing the stent structure; and removing the interventional catheter, including the collapsed balloon and the collapsed stent structure of the interventional element, and the catheter assembly from the vascular channel.