US20040186393A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Soft tissue biopsy instrument
Assignee: Biomedical Resources Inc
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Filing: 2003-06-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2023-06-04
Abstract
Abstract Soft tissue biopsy apparatus for obtaining a tissue specimen comprises a compact handle functioning as a housing having an opening at a front end thereof through which a tubular cannula is arranged to pass. Disposed in the lumen of the cannula is a stylet having a notch formed near its distal end in which a tissue sample is to be captured. First and second springs are operatively coupled individually to the cannula and stylet and a cocking slide incorporating a force reducing mechanism is used to compress the springs while establishing the size of the specimen to be collected in the notch. A trigger mounted on the cocking slide can be used to release the compressed springs in close succession to first advance the end of the stylet beyond the end of the cannula whereby tissue to be extracted flows into the notch and then the spring driving the cannula is released forcing the cannula forward and severing the piece of tissue contained in the notch from surrounding tissue.
Inventors
- 👤 Harold Leigh
- 👤 Matthew Keen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 01:50
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B10/00; A61B10/02; A61B10/0233; A61B10/0266; A61B10/0275; A61B2010/0208
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
269 words
1 . A soft tissue biopsy instrument comprising: (a) a housing member comprising a generally hollow handle partitioned into first and second compartments, the housing member having a closed distal end and a closed proximal end, there being an aperture through the distal end; (b) a tubular cannula defining a lumen and having a tubular hub affixed to a proximal end of said cannula and a beveled, tissue piercing distal end, the cannula extending through said aperture; (c) a stylet adapted to be slidably inserted and removed from the lumen of the cannula, the stylet having a slide member affixed to a proximal end thereof and a sharpened distal end, the stylet further including a notch of a predetermined length and depth formed proximal of said sharpened distal end, the slide member being reciprocally movable in a guideway formed in the housing member; (d) first and second helically wound compression springs individually disposed in said first and second compartments, the first spring operatively disposed between the housing and slide member on the proximal end of the stylet and the second spring operatively disposed between the housing and the tubular hub on the proximal end of the cannula; (e) a cocking assembly slidably mounted on the housing operatively coupled to the first and second springs for compressing the springs while simultaneously retracting the cannula and the stylet in a proximal direction; and (f) a release button carried by the cocking assembly for sequentially releasing energy stored in the first and second springs to first drive the stylet in a distal direction and then drive the cannula in a distal direction.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
269 words
1 . A soft tissue biopsy instrument comprising: (a) a housing member comprising a generally hollow handle partitioned into first and second compartments, the housing member having a closed distal end and a closed proximal end, there being an aperture through the distal end; (b) a tubular cannula defining a lumen and having a tubular hub affixed to a proximal end of said cannula and a beveled, tissue piercing distal end, the cannula extending through said aperture; (c) a stylet adapted to be slidably inserted and removed from the lumen of the cannula, the stylet having a slide member affixed to a proximal end thereof and a sharpened distal end, the stylet further including a notch of a predetermined length and depth formed proximal of said sharpened distal end, the slide member being reciprocally movable in a guideway formed in the housing member; (d) first and second helically wound compression springs individually disposed in said first and second compartments, the first spring operatively disposed between the housing and slide member on the proximal end of the stylet and the second spring operatively disposed between the housing and the tubular hub on the proximal end of the cannula; (e) a cocking assembly slidably mounted on the housing operatively coupled to the first and second springs for compressing the springs while simultaneously retracting the cannula and the stylet in a proximal direction; and (f) a release button carried by the cocking assembly for sequentially releasing energy stored in the first and second springs to first drive the stylet in a distal direction and then drive the cannula in a distal direction.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
2 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 1 wherein the cocking assembly permits retraction of the cannula and the stylet in steps of predetermined length.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
53 words
3 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 2 and further including a scale on the housing member adjacent a fiducial mark on the slide member for indicating a number of steps by which the cannula and stylet have been retracted in the proximal direction during actuation of the cocking assembly.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
4 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in any one of claims 1 - 3 and further including a visual indicator on the first compartment for indicating whether the cocking assembly has been actuated.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
5 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in any one of claims 1 - 3 and further including spaced-apart radiopaque markers disposed along a length dimension of the tubular cannula.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
38 words
6 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 1 and further including an interlock preventing removal of the stylet from the cannula following actuation of the cocking assembly and prior to activation of the release button.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
64 words
7 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 1 wherein one of the closed distal end and the closed proximal ends includes first and second ratchet posts projecting longitudinally in the first and second compartments, the ratchet posts passing centrally through the first and second compression springs, said cocking assembly including a pawl for cooperating with the first and second ratchet posts.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
35 words
8 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 7 wherein the release button is arranged such that depression thereof disengages the pawl from the first and second ratchet posts in a sequential order.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
9 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 1 and further including means coupled to the cocking assembly for reducing a force needed to compress the first and second springs.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
77 words
10 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 9 wherein said means comprises a slide member slidably affixed to the housing member, a gear rack surface on the cocking assembly, a further gear rack surface on the housing member and a pinion gear journaled for rotation on the first slide member with teeth on the pinion gear engaging the gear rack surface on the cocking assembly and the gear rack surface on the housing member.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
11 . The soft tissue biopsy instrument as in claim 10 and further including a return spring operatively disposed between the housing member and the slide member.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
108 words
12 . A method for collecting tissue specimens from a target organ in a body of an animal comprising the steps of: (a) providing a soft tissue biopsy instrument of claim 1; (b) advancing the tubular cannula into the target organ; (c) actuating the cocking assembly to retract the cannula and stylet in the proximal direction for a selectable predetermined distance; (d) actuating the release button to capture the tissue specimen in the notch of the stylet; (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) prior to extracting either the stylet from the tubular catheter or extracting the cannula from the target organ to collect multiple specimens in said notch.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
124 words
13 . A method for collecting tissue specimens from a target organ in a body of an animal comprising the steps of: (a) providing a soft tissue biopsy instrument of claim 1; (b) advancing the tubular cannula into the target organ; (c) actuating the cocking assembly to retract the cannula and stylet in the proximal direction for a selectable predetermined distance; (d) actuating the release button to capture the tissue specimen in the notch of the stylet; (e) removing the stylet from the tubular cannula to extract a collected specimen; (f) replacing the stylet in the tubular cannula without removing the tubular cannula from the target organ; and (g) repeating steps (c), (d), (e) and (f) to collect multiple specimens from the target organ.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
16 words
14 . The method of claim 12 wherein step (c) is performed prior to step (b).
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
16 words
15 . The method of claim 13 wherein step (c) is performed prior to step (b).
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