Patent ID: 8052708

Claim:
A marking apparatus for the percutaneous placement of an imaging marker at a location in a tissue mass to facilitate subsequent determination of the location of the tissue mass, the marking apparatus comprising: a handle defining a hollow interior; a cannula extending from the handle and defining a lumen open to the hollow interior of the handle, a distal end of the cannula forming an insertion tip with an axial opening at the insertion tip; a stylet having a proximal end with a proximal tip and a distal end, slidably received within the lumen for movement between a ready position and an extended position, where, in the ready position, the proximal tip is disposed in the handle and the distal end of the stylet is spaced inwardly from the insertion tip to define a marker recess between the distal end of the stylet and the axial opening, and in the extended position the distal end of the stylet extends at least into the marker recess; and an imaging marker disposed within the marker recess to be expelled through the axial opening by movement of the stylet from the ready position to the extended position, wherein the imaging marker has no lead long enough to extend from the interior of the tissue mass to the exterior of the tissue mass when the imaging marker has been placed in the tissue mass; whereby the marking apparatus is configured to be grasped and operated by a single hand of a user, the imaging marker being placed by grasping the handle to effect the insertion of the cannula into the tissue mass, expelling the imaging marker into the tissue mass by moving the stylet to the extended position, and removing the cannula from the tissue mass after the expulsion of the imaging marker, leaving the imaging marker in the tissue mass with no lead extending from the interior of the tissue mass to the exterior of the tissue mass, wherein the imaging marker is made from a coil spring, and the imaging marker further comprising radiopaque fibers extending from the coil spring.