Patent ID: 8690907

Claim:
A method of treating a thrombus in a vessel with self-expanding bulbs, the method comprising: advancing a microwire in the vessel and through a guide catheter, wherein advancing the microwire includes crossing the thrombus with a distal end of the microwire; advancing a microcatheter in the vessel and over the microwire, wherein advancing the microcatheter includes crossing the thrombus with a distal end of the microcatheter; after advancing the microcatheter, removing the microwire from the vessel; after removing the microwire, inserting a thrombectomy device in a radially compressed state into the microcatheter, the thrombectomy device including: a distal portion including a plurality of wires woven to form a textile fabric, the distal portion comprising five to twenty said self-expanding bulbs and necks between and radially inward of the self-expanding bulbs; and a proximal portion bonded to the distal portion, the proximal portion including a hypotube including a plurality of longitudinally-spaced kerfs including a plurality of interspersed cut patterns, wherein a pitch of the plurality of longitudinally-spaced kerfs varies longitudinally along the hypotube; after inserting the thrombectomy device into the microcatheter, advancing the thrombectomy device in the vessel and through the microcatheter proximate to the distal end of the microcatheter, wherein advancing the thrombectomy device includes crossing the thrombus; after advancing the thrombectomy device, maintaining a location of the proximal portion of the thrombectomy device while proximally retracting the microcatheter, wherein upon being unsheathed from the microcatheter at least some of the self-expanding bulbs of the elongate support structure of the thrombectomy device self-expand from a radially compressed state to a radially expanded state, wherein retracting the microcatheter is at least until the distal end of the microcatheter is proximal to the thrombus; after retracting the microcatheter, torsionally rasping the thrombectomy device including removing portions of the thrombus attached to an endothelium wall, entrapping the thrombus in the radially expanded distal portion of the thrombectomy device, and collecting emboli in the radially expanded distal portion of the thrombectomy device; and after torsionally rasping the thrombectomy device, retracting at a similar rate the microcatheter and the proximal portion of the thrombectomy device.