The subject invention pertains to an elastic sheath, device, and methods
for disrupting and/or removing occlusive material from lumens,
particularly biological lumens, such as the vasculature, ureter, urethra,
fallopian tubes, bile duct, intestines, and the like. The subject
invention provides for effective disruption and removal of occlusive
material, such as a thrombus, from the body lumen with minimal risk of
injury to the lumen wall. Advantageously, the invention can be used to
achieve a high degree of removal while minimizing the amount of occlusive
material that is released into the body lumen. The subject invention
further pertains to methods for disrupting and removing occlusive
material from a biological lumen. In another aspect, the present
invention concerns a device useful as an in vitro model of luminal
occlusion and methods for using the device to test the efficacy of
devices and methods for treating luminal occlusions.