Claims
- 1. A minimally invasive method for diagnosing, removing and ablating margins of a tumor in a breast of an individual as a same day treatment, comprising the steps of:
imaging the breast of the individual to locate a potential tumor or to determine the extent of an existing tumor within the breast or a combination thereof; obtaining a cell specimen from the tumor pre-procedure or intra-procedure; preparing cytology samples from the specimen for diagnosis; excising the tumor from the breast under imaging guidance; and ablating the tumor margins in the breast; wherein performing the method steps on the same day results in a minimally invasive treatment of the individual.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein imaging the breast is via MRI.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the cytology samples are prepared by touch preparation cytology or by fine needle cytology.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the tumor excision is directed by ultrasound or MRI.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein ablating the tumor margin is by a method selected from the group consisting of interstitial laser photocoagulation, cryotherapy, radiofrequency, and ultracision with a harmonic scapel.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the tumor has a diameter of about 1.5 cm or less.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This non-provisional patent application claims benefit of provisional patent application U.S. Serial No. 60/337,626, filed Dec. 10, 2001, now abandoned.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60337626 |
Dec 2001 |
US |