Patent ID: 8052615

Claim:
A biopsy device for harvesting at least one tissue sample from a body of a living being, the device comprising: a handle unit; a disposable unit configured to be releasably attached to the handle unit, the disposable unit including a sample-receiving device and a longitudinally extending hollow needle, the sample-receiving device having a cavity in the form of a canoe configured to receive tissue during a biopsy procedure, the longitudinally extending hollow needle having a distal end portion with a cutting edge, the hollow needle being configured to move relative to the cavity of the sample-receiving device to sever a tissue sample from the tissue received in the cavity, the sample-receiving device being receivable in the hollow needle and longitudinally displaceable therein between a first extended position, in which the cavity of the sample-receiving device projects from the distal end portion of the hollow needle to receive the tissue, and a second retracted position, in which the cavity of the sample-receiving device is in a proximal position with respect to the distal end portion of the hollow needle, and in which the tissue sample can be ejected from the cavity, and wherein the sample-receiving device is not removed from the biopsy device to retrieve the tissue sample from the cavity; a transport device configured to move the sample-receiving device in the hollow needle between the first extended position and the second retracted position; a control system configured to control movement of the transport device and to arrest the sample-receiving device in the second retracted position for retrieval from within the biopsy device of the tissue sample from the cavity; and a liquid supply unit adapted to supply a flushing liquid, the transport device being configured to activate the liquid supply unit to supply the flushing liquid to the cavity of the sample-receiving device when the sample-receiving device is moved to the second retracted position so as to eject the tissue sample from the cavity within the biopsy device.