RAPID EXCHANGE CATHETERS USABLE WITH EMBOLIC PROTECTION DEVICES

Catheters, assemblies, and methods for delivering and recovering embolic protection devices. Catheters are provided that can be advanced over single length guide wires and which can be retracted over single length wire shafts of distal embolic protection devices. One catheter is a two-port catheter having two sidewall ports, a distal end port, and a proximal end port. The two-port catheter can be advanced over a guide wire threaded between the distal end port and the distal sidewall port. An embolic protection device wire shaft can be back loaded into the distal end port and out the proximal sidewall port. A three-port catheter includes a distal end port, and distal, intermediate, and proximal sidewall ports. The distal sidewall port can be dimensioned to accept passage of a filter body through the port. The distal end port can be dimensioned to accept only a guide wire to provide a smooth transition from the guide wire to the small profile distal end. The guide wire can extend between the distal end port and the intermediate port while the filter body shaft can extend through the proximal port, to be distally urged through the distal sidewall port. Another catheter embodiment is a slotted catheter, including a biased, normally open slot over most of its length. The slot can be sufficiently small to resist unwanted transverse movement of a wire through the slot. The slotted catheter can be retracted over a wire by forcing the wire through the resilient slot.