Schematic drawing of coronary blood sampling.

The right coronary artery (RCA) is shown. Arrows within the circles point to the exact site of blood drawing. Stasis of the blood column is indicated by the use of gray. (A) PercuSurge distal protection device. Blood is aspirated from the tip of the export catheter, while the catheter is slowly withdrawn proximally. The harvested blood is passed over a filter. TF activity of the material on the filter is measured. (B) NR in the course of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Blood is aspirated from the static blood column at the tip of the guiding catheter, which is deeply intubated into the proximal vessel segment.