GUIDE WIRE CONTROL CATHETER FOR CROSSING OCCLUSIONS AND RELATED METHODS OF USE
A wire control catheter for aligning and guiding a guide wire through a lesion in a vessel is provided. The wire control catheter includes a shaft having a guide wire lumen and a control wire lumen. A control wire passes through the control wire lumen and is used in combination with an articulation structure to deflect or curve a distal tip portion of the catheter. The distal catheter shaft may include a centering device for centering the catheter within the vessel. The distal catheter shaft may also include a pre-dilation balloon for dilating the lesion prior to performing angioplasty or other treatment on the lesion. A method of treatment of a blood vessel includes inserting a guide wire into the blood vessel and advancing a control wire over the guide wire until the distal tip of the catheter is near the occlusion in the blood vessel. The tip of the catheter then is deflected via a control wire and an articulation structure. The guide wire is then advanced across the occlusion. The control wire also may be advanced across the occlusion simultaneously with the guide wire or subsequent to the guide wire crossing. Prior to crossing the occlusion, the wire control catheter may be centered using a centering device. Subsequent to crossing the occlusion, the occlusion may be pre-dilated with a pre-dilation balloon of the wire control catheter.
1 . A method for crossing a lesion in a blood vessel comprising:
providing a catheter comprising an elongate tubular member having a proximal and a distal end, a guide wire lumen extending from a proximal region and communicating with a port at the distal end, a deflectable tip portion at the distal end of the elongate tubular member comprising a plurality of spaced-apart loops arranged along a longitudinal axis, a control wire lumen extending from the proximal region to the distal end, and a control wire extending through the control wire lumen;
advancing the catheter to a region of interest;
operating the control wire to align the deflectable tip portion of the catheter with the lesion; and
advancing a guide wire through the guide wire lumen of the catheter and across the lesion.
2 - 29 . (canceled)