Patent ID: 7785339

Claim:
A tool for coring out a portion of one or more hair follicles from a patient's body comprising: a hollow coring needle; a handle that defines an interior cavity, said handle having a proximal end and a distal end; a member having a proximal portion defining a proximal end and a distal portion defining a distal end, the distal portion of the member mechanically supporting the needle and defining a cut-out adjacent said proximal end of said needle, said cut-out extending through a sidewall of said member for allowing removal of the hair follicles, the proximal portion housed within said interior cavity of the handle and capable of translation and rotation relative to the handle therein, the handle and member having a helical interface therebetween capable of rotating and translating the handle and member relative to each other in response to a pushing force applied to the handle that pushes the handle distally toward the patient, whereby the handle translates as a unitary body relative to the member and rotation of the member rotates the needle supported by the member, said distal portion of said member having means for fixing said needle to said distal portion of said member, said means for fixing operably disposed distal of said distal end of said handle and including a throughbore defined by said distal portion of said member, said throughbore having a proximal end in open communication with said cut-out; a spring disposed within the interior cavity of the handle and proximally extending from the proximal end of the member, the spring counteracting proximal translation of the member relative to the handle; and means for manually adjusting maximum penetration depth of the needle, said means for manually adjusting operably disposed at or adjacent the distal end of said member.