the present invention is an atherectomy catheter with a rotary cutting knife that is driven from the distal or side direction . the catheter collects plaque shavings in a hollow collection chamber mounted in between the rotary cutting knife and the main catheter tubing . in contrast to prior art designs , which utilized nose mounted plaque collection chambers , the present design is able to store a substantially larger volume of removed plaque , thus increasing the length of time and amount of plaque removal that can be accomplished before the catheter must be removed from the body and cleaned . this decreases medical procedure time , allows for more complete and careful plaque removal , and reduces the burden on the patient and physician .