EASILY CLEANED ATHERECTOMY CATHETER AND METHOD OF USE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide easily cleaned atherectomy catheters and methods of use.SOLUTION: There is provided an atherectomy catheter having a tissue collection chamber capable of being cleaned out in a simple, fast and effective way, and methods of using the catheter to remove material from a blood vessel lumen are also provided. In one embodiment, the tissue collection chamber has an expandable tip having a first closed position capable of retaining material in the chamber and having a second open position that may allow expulsion of material from the chamber. In a second embodiment the tissue collection chamber has a displaceable tip having a first closed position to retain material in the chamber and having a second open position to allow expulsion of material from the chamber.