CATHETER FOR OPENING AN OBSTRUCTION IN A BODY VESSEL AND METHOD FOR OPENING SUCH OBSTRUCTION USING THE CATHETER

摘要

The present invention concerns a catheter (10) for opening an obstruction in a body vessel, the catheter comprising: a distal portion (11) having a rotatable boring element (21) comprising a screw thread (21), the boring element (22) being arranged upon rotation to draw itself distally into the obstruction; and a shaft portion (26) extending between the distal portion (11) and a proximal portion (12); wherein the shaft portion (26) comprises a hand-rotatable knob system (23) such that the rotation of the knob (23) applies a rotational torque in the desired direction to the shaft portion (26), which is, in turn, transmitted to rotate the boring element (21) as desired; and wherein the screw thread (21) has a pitch (P) between 0.5 mm and 5 mm. The present invention also concerns a method for opening an obstruction in bodily vessel using the catheter.