Patent Application
20160030019
Needle biopsy procedures may be used for the diagnosis and the staging of disease. For example, a fine aspiration needle may be advanced through a working channel of an endoscope to a target tissue site. Although fine needle aspiration may be a highly sensitive and specific procedure, it may be difficult to acquire a suitable sample under certain clinical situations. The more cells or tissue that can be acquired, the greater the potential for a definitive diagnosis. Larger gauge needles, however, may be difficult to pass along tortuous paths through anatomy to target sites and may acquire samples including more blood, making it more difficult to obtain a diagnosis.
The present disclosure is directed to a device for collecting a tissue sample, comprising a needle extending longitudinally from a proximal end to a distal end and comprising a lumen extending therethrough and a stylet movably housed in the lumen of the needle, the stylet extending along a longitudinal axis from a proximal end to a distal end and comprising a scooper at the distal end thereof, the scooper connected to a proximal portion of the stylet via a hinge biased toward a bent position in which the scooper is bent away from the longitudinal axis, the stylet movable between a constrained configuration, in which an interior surface of the needle constrains the scooper in axial alignment with the proximal portion, and the tissue-collecting configuration, in which the scooper extends distally past the distal end of the needle such that the hinge is permitted to revert to the biased bent position so that the scooper bends away from the longitudinal axis, the scooper including a channel extending longitudinally therethrough and a window extending laterally through a wall thereof in communication with the channel to collect a tissue sample therethrough as the stylet is moved from the tissue-collecting configuration to the constrained configuration.
The distal end of the stylet may be at least partially closed.
The distal end of the stylet may include a tapered tip.
The hinge may be a living hinge.
The needle may include a longitudinal slot extending proximally from the distal end thereof, the longitudinal slot sized and shaped to pass a portion of the hinge therethrough, when the stylet is in the tissue-collecting configuration.
The stylet may be rotatable relative to the needle between a first position and a second position in the constrained configuration, the window may be substantially aligned with the longitudinal slot in the first position and substantially opposing the longitudinally slot in the second position.
The needle may be sized and shaped to be inserted through a working channel of an endoscope.
The present disclosure is also directed to a device for collecting a tissue sample, comprising a needle extending longitudinally from a proximal end to a distal end and comprising a lumen extending therethrough and a stylet movably housed in the lumen of the needle, the stylet comprising a proximal portion extending along a longitudinal axis and a scooper connected to a distal end of the proximal portion via a hinge biased toward a bent position such that the stylet is movable between a constrained configuration, in which the scooper is constrained along the longitudinal axis via an interior surface of the lumen of the needle, and a tissue-collecting configuration in which the scooper extends distally past the distal end of the needle such that the hinge reverts to the biased bent position bending the scooper away from the longitudinal axis, the scooper including a channel extending therethrough and a window extending laterally through a wall thereof in communication with the channel.
The distal end of the stylet may be at least partially closed.
The distal end of the stylet may include a tapered tip.
The hinge may be a living hinge.
The needle may include a longitudinal slot extending proximally from the distal end thereof, the longitudinal slot sized and shaped to pass a portion of the hinge therethrough, when the stylet is in the tissue-collecting configuration.
The stylet may rotatable relative to the needle between a first position and a second position in the constrained configuration, the window may be substantially aligned with the longitudinal slot in the first position and substantially opposing the longitudinally slot in the second position.
The needle may be sized and shaped to be inserted through a working channel of an endoscope.
The needle and stylet may be formed of a material sufficiently flexible to permit insertion thereof through even tortuous paths of a patient body.
The present disclosure is also directed to a method for collecting a tissue sample, comprising inserting a needle device, in a constrained position, into a target tissue via a working channel of an endoscope, the device including a needle and a stylet housed therewithin, the stylet including a scooper constrained via an interior surface of the needle in axial alignment with a proximal portion of the stylet in the constrained configuration, moving the stylet distally relative to the needle such that the scooper reverts to a biased tissue-collecting configuration in which the scooper is bent away from a longitudinal axis of the device, and moving the needle distally over the scooper such that a tissue sample is collected within the channel via the window as the scooper is moved toward the constrained configuration.
The present disclosure may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are referred to with the same reference numerals. The present disclosure relates to endoscopic devices and, in particular, devices for obtaining tissue samples. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure describe a device comprising a stylet including a scooper at a distal end thereof and a needle longitudinally movable relative to the stylet to move the device between a constrained configuration and a tissue-collecting configuration. In the tissue-collecting configuration, the scooper extends distally from a distal end of the needle to bend or rotate away from a longitudinal axis of the stylet. Thus, moving the needle distally over the scooper permits tissue to be collected through a window of the scooper as the device is moved to the constrained configuration. It will be understood by those of skill in the art that the device is not restricted by a diameter of the needle and thus collects a larger tissue sample than would be possible with traditional biopsy needles. It should be noted that the terms “proximal” and “distal” as used herein, are intended to refer to a direction toward (proximal) and away from (distal) a user of the device.
As shown in
The needle 108 extends longitudinally from a proximal end to the distal end 110 formed, for example, as a tissue piercing distal tip. The needle 108 includes a lumen 116 extending therethrough and a lateral cross-sectional area of the needle 108 is sized and shaped to be inserted through a working channel of an insertion device such as a flexible endoscope. The needle 108 of this embodiment is formed of a material sufficiently flexible to enable insertion of the device 100 through even tortuous paths of the body such as those traversed by flexible endoscopes. The distal end 110 may include a longitudinal slot 118 extending proximally therefrom. The longitudinal slot 118 is sized and shaped to permit a portion of the hinge 120 and/or a proximal end 122 of scooper 104 to extend therethrough, when the device 100 is in the tissue-collecting position. It will be understood by those of skill in the art, however, that the longitudinal slot 118 is not required, and the stylet 102 may simply be moved further distally with respect to the needle 108 to permit the stylet 102 to revert to the biased tissue-collecting configuration.
The stylet 102 extends longitudinally from a proximal end to a distal end 124 and includes the channel 112 extending through at least a distal portion (including the scooper 104) thereof. The distal end 124, however, is closed such that the distal end 124 may be used to pierce tissue as the device 100 is being inserted into the target tissue. Thus, the distal end 124 may include a tapered tip 130 to facilitate the piercing of tissue. The distal end 124 is not required to be fully closed, however, and may be partially closed to facilitate insertion into the target tissue while also retaining any portion of tissue received in the channel 112 via the window 114. The window 114 extends laterally through a wall 132 of the scooper 104, from the closed distal end 124 to the proximal end 122 of the scooper 104. The scooper 104 is connected to the proximal portion 126 of the stylet 102 via the hinge 120. The hinge 120 may, for example, be a living hinge biased toward a bent position such that the stylet 102 is moved toward the tissue-collecting configuration with the scooper 104 angled relative to the longitudinal axis of the stylet 102 when unconstrained. As described above, the window 114 passes through a portion of the scooper 104 which, when the stylet 102 is in the tissue-collecting configuration, faces toward the longitudinal axis of the stylet 102. Thus, as the scooper 104 is moved toward the longitudinal axis into axial alignment with the proximal portion 126 in the constrained configuration, the tissue sample is “scooped” or collected into the channel 112 via the window 114. The stylet 102 is moved to the constrained configuration by moving the needle 108 distally over the scooper 104, trapping the collected tissue sample in the channel 112 via an interior surface 128 of the lumen 116 of the needle 108, which extends over the window 114. Although the hinge 120 is described and shown as a living hinge, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that the hinge 120 may take any of a variety of forms so long as the scooper 104 is biased away from the longitudinal axis of the stylet 102.
According to an exemplary surgical method utilizing the device 100, the device 100 is inserted into target tissue within a living body via a working channel of an endoscope or other insertion device, in the constrained configuration. The device 100 may be inserted into the body in a first position of the constrained configuration, as shown in
Although the exemplary surgical method describes moving the stylet 102 relative to the needle 108 between first and second positions of the constrained configuration, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that the device 100 may be utilized without rotating the stylet 102 relative to the needle 108. In particular, the device 100 may be inserted into the target tissue, in the constrained position, with the window 114 opposing the longitudinal slot 118, so that the stylet 102 and the needle 108 may simply be moved longitudinally relative to one another between the constrained and tissue-collecting configurations. In addition, for embodiments of the device 100 in which the needle 108 does not include the longitudinal slot 118, a rotational orientation of the stylet 102 relative to the needle 108 will have no bearing on the use of the device 100. It will also be understood by those of skill in the art that the stylet 102 and the needle 108 may be repeatedly moved relative to one another between the constrained and tissue-collecting configurations until a desired tissue sample has been collected.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations can be made in the structure and methodology of the present disclosure, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover the modifications and variations of this disclosure provided that they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
The present disclosure claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/031,629 filed Jul. 31, 2014; the disclosure of which is incorporated herewith by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62031629 | Jul 2014 | US |
