Patent ID: 6053876
Filing Date: 2000-04-25
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A method for marking the location of a lesion or tumor in a breast, comprising the steps of:providing a hollow needle having a bore of preselected diameter;providing a leading tube and a trailing tube that share a common internal diameter slightly greater than an external diameter of said hollow needle;interconnecting said leading tube and trailing tube with a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart jointed members that are hingedly connected at their respective leading ends to a trailing end of said leading tube, hingedly connected at their respective trailing ends to a leading end of said trailing tube, and hingedly jointed at their respective mid-points so that said jointed members are in substantially parallel relation to one another when said leading and trailing tubes are positioned a maximum longitudinal distance from one another and so that sliding displacement of said trailing tube toward said leading tube causes said respective mid-points to collectively diverge from one another in a radially outwardly direction;sliding said trailing tube toward said leading tube in a proximal-to-distal direction so that said jointed members collectively diverge from one another in said radially outward direction at said respective jointed midpoints; andremoving breast tissue encaged by said jointed members to remove said lesion or tumor.