Patent ID: 11903569
Assignee: URO-1, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 7:
8. A biopsy instrument comprising:
a tubular cannula that extends along a central longitudinal axis and has an inside wall and a sharpened distal end;
a core collector that that fits in said cannula for linear motion relative thereto along said central longitudinal axis and has a sharp distal tip and a cradle portion extending along said axis proximally from the sharp distal tip;
wherein said cannula and core collector are configured to move linearly relative to each other along said central longitudinal axis between (i) a first relative position in which said cradle portion protrudes distally from the cannula for a tissue sample to enter said cradle portion and (ii) a second relative position in which said cannula and core collector have moved distally relative to each other to thereby sever said tissue sample in the cradle portion from surrounding tissue;
wherein said cradle portion of the core collector is elongated along said central longitudinal said axis and has a convex bottom and an upper surface with side walls forming said cradle portion;
wherein said side walls of the core collector extend above a mid-plane of said inside wall that coincides with said central longitudinal axis and comprise rows of teeth, with the teeth of each of said rows spaced from each other along said central longitudinal axis such that cross-sections of the cradle portion contain teeth of both rows, or contain only a tooth of one of the rows, or are entirely free of said teeth; and
wherein said teeth are configured to engage tissue that has entered said cradle portion while the core collector is protruding distally from the cannula and thereby keep said tissue from distorting as the cannula and cradle portion move from the first to the second relative position thereof to thereby sever a tissue sample from surrounding tissue, thereby maintaining structural integrity of said tissue sample.