A sieving device and related methods including an expandable sieve mounted on a surgical guide wire. The expandable sieve may be a self expandable braided filter which is mounted on the guide wire in an axially fixed position or moveable in one or more directions. The sieving device is deployable in an obstructed ureter or other body lumen such as at the beginning of a stone removal procedure prior to actual stone defragmentation (lithotripsy) phase. The expandable sieve may be set distal to the obstructive stone and expanded to span the entire local ureter cross section in order to retain stone fragments larger than a predetermined size from migrating distally towards the kidney under high irrigation rates/pressures during lithotripsy.
