Patent ID: 7322938

Claim:
A biopsy instrument comprising an elongated shaft, a longitudinal axis, a distal end on the shaft, a tissue cutting surface on the distal end of the shaft to facilitate advancement of the instrument through tissue to a target biopsy site, a radially expandable elongated electrosurgical cutting element which is longitudinally disposed on and has proximal and distal ends secured to and supported by a distal portion of the shaft proximal to the distal end of the shaft and which is configured to receive RF energy from a source thereof for severing a tissue specimen from the target site within a patient's body by rotating the electrosurgical cutting element in a radially expanded condition about the longitudinal axis to create a peripheral boundary about the tissue specimen and at least one encapsulating element which is secured to the distal portion of the shaft and which is configured to encapsulate the severed tissue specimen, so that the entire severed tissue specimen may be withdrawn from the patient's body.