Patent ID: 7666161

Claim:
A catheter system for introduction into a vessel of a living being to treat occlusive material, said system comprising: (a) a catheter having a proximal region, a distal region and a housing extending therebetween, said housing comprising an aspiration catheter jacket and defining a lumen, the housing further including a segment comprising at least one aspiration port near the distal region, the aspiration port being in fluid communication with the lumen, (b) a holding arrangement for holding a guidewire adjacent to the catheter at two spaced-apart points such that the segment is located between the two spaced-apart points, and wherein the segment may move in a laterally curved path towards said guidewire and away from said guidewire such that the catheter jacket within the segment becomes separated from the guidewire by a separation distance, and (c) an aspiration pump comprising a source of rotary power at said proximal region and a helical wire located in said lumen and extending from said distal region of said catheter to said proximal region and attached to said source of rotary power; wherein at least a portion of said catheter at the distal region is sufficiently flexible or deflectable as to allow the segment to deflect away from said guidewire such that the catheter jacket within the segment is separated from the guidewire by the separation distance when said source of rotary power is energized and rotates said helical wire in said lumen.