An expandable medical wire can be used to entrain biological or foreign material during a medical procedure, such as lithotripsy. The wire also can be used to remove the material safely from the body. Generally, the wire includes a sleeve and a core, where the sleeve, the core, or both include a portion or portions that can be deployed to form an expanded coiled configuration. The expanded coiled configuration can be collapsed to facilitate positioning the wire within an anatomical lumen. In addition, the wire can be used as a conventional guide wire or as a self-anchoring guide wire.
