Claims
- 1. A tissue biopsy system comprising:
a wire having an anchor at a distal end thereof; and an excision instrument adapted to travel over the wire to a tissue region marked by the anchor.
- 2. A system as in claim 1, wherein the excision instrument has an expansible cutting hoop at its distal end.
- 3. A system as in claim 1, wherein the excision instrument has a fixed blade at its distal end.
- 4. A system as in claim 1, wherein the wire is scored to allow position determination under radiographic imaging.
- 5. A method for biopsying breast tissue, said method comprising:
placing a wire at a target location in the breast tissue under radiographic guidance; measuring the depth of the target location using a template; selecting an excision instrument based on the measurement; and advancing the excision instrument over the wire and actuating the instrument to remove tissue at the target location.
- 6. A method as in claim 5, wherein actuating the instrument comprises rotating a hoop to excise tissue.
- 7. A method as in claim 6, wherein the hoop is pivoted about an attachment point near a distal end of the excision instrument.
- 8. A method as in claim 5, wherein actuating the instrument comprises advancing a cutting blade fixed near a distal end of the excision instrument.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of PCT/US00/25101 (Attorney Docket No. 019970-000210PC), filed on Sep. 13, 2000, which claimed the benefit of provisional application No. 60/153,807 (Attorney Docket No. 019770-000210), filed on Sep. 14, 1999, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60153807 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/US00/25101 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10099311 |
Mar 2002 |
US |