Distal protection devices use a physical barrier tocapture the embolized thrombi and prevent them fromtraveling to the microcirculation. The exact physicalbarrier used varies in different distal protection devi-ces. The PercuSurge GuardWire system (PercusurgeInc, Sunnyvale, CA) employs a low-pressure ballooninflated in the coronary artery distal to the target lesionbefore PCI to prevent distal embolisation. The embo-lized thrombi captured proximal to the balloon areremoved with an aspiration catheter following stentdeployment. The FilterWire (Boston Scientific/EPI,Santa Clara, CA) is a 0.014-inch guidewire that incor-porates a nonoccluding polyurethane porous membranefilter in the shape of a windsock. The filter is deployedin the coronary artery distal to the target lesion. Embo-lized thrombi are captured in the filter at the time ofstent deployment, after which the filter is removed