Patent ID: 7967837

Claim:
A delivery catheter system comprising: a guidewire; an embolic protection filter disposed over the guidewire, the filter comprising a proximal end, a distal end, an expanded profile in a deployed configuration and a low-profile in a collapsed configuration for delivery; and a delivery catheter for delivering the filter over the guidewire in the collapsed configuration to a treatment site and deploying the filter at the treatment site into the deployed configuration; the delivery catheter comprising: a catheter body having a proximal end and a distal end, the catheter body comprising a guidewire lumen and an operating lumen, the guidewire lumen extending parallel to the operating lumen, the guidewire disposed within the guidewire lumen; a pod extending distally from the distal end of the catheter body, the pod being fixed to the catheter body and having an outer diameter greater than an outer diameter of the catheter body, the pod having a lumen defining a tubular reception space for receiving and maintaining the filter in the collapsed configuration; the longitudinal axis of the catheter shaft is offset in the radial direction from the longitudinal axis of the control wire; an operating wire slidably disposed within the operating lumen and extending into the pod, the operating wire having a proximal end and a distal end; and an engagement element extending from and fixed to the distal end of the operating wire, the engagement element comprising a proximal end and a distal end, the engagement element slidably disposed within the lumen of the pod, the engagement element having an outer diameter that is greater than an outer diameter of the operating wire but less than an inner diameter of the lumen of the pod, the distal end of the engagement element slidably abuts the proximal end of the filter to deploy the filter from within the tubular reception space.