Patent 7144408 was granted and assigned to Salviac on December, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An embolic protection filter system comprises a collapsible embolic protection filter 62 having a collapsed configuration for delivery of the filter, and a deployed configuration and a temporary lumen defining member 60. The lumen defining member 60 is used for loading a filter-containing delivery catheter 63 onto a guidewire 65. After loading, the member 60 can be removed by pulling on a tab 61.