Patent ID: 6171249
Filing Date: 2001-01-09
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A medical instrument comprising:a shaft with a longitudinal bending neck;an ultrasound device at a distal end of the bending neck;a working channel extending through the shaft and the bending neck and having an opening proximate the ultrasound device, the opening being at a lateral side of the bending neck at a fixed location relative to the ultrasound device; anda biopsy needle located in the working channel, the needle being comprised of superelastic material and being extendible and retractable out the working channel opening proximate the ultrasound device,wherein a biopsy needle extension path out of the opening from the working channel extends at a fixed angle across an ultrasound path of the ultrasound device, and wherein the working channel is curved along a bendable longitudinal length of the bending neck relative to a longitudinal centerline of the bending neck.