Patent ID: 7063714

Claim:
Apparatus suitable for manipulating cerebral blood flow characteristics, the apparatus comprising: a catheter having proximal and distal ends, a lumen extending therebetween, and an occlusive element affixed to the distal end, the occlusive element having an opening that communicates with the lumen, the occlusive element having a contracted position (configured for transluminal retrograde insertion via the descending aorta and an expanded position wherein the occlusive element occludes antegrade flow in a carotid artery;) and a flow control device having proximal and distal ends and a flow control element disposed at the distal end, (the flow control device configured for insertion, separately from the catheter, via a subclavian artery brachiocephalic trunk so that the flow control device, when deployed, inhibits flow to vertebral and common carotid arteries, thereby controlling mid-cerebral artery flow.