Patent ID: 7959641

Claim:
A method for cutting a strip of tissue of width W from a tissue mass, said method comprising the steps of: A) providing a device which comprises; i. an elongate cutting tube that has a distal end, at least one curve and a lumen that opens through an opening in the distal end; and ii. a protruding tip formed at the bottom of the cutting tube distal end and at least first and second lateral cutting edges formed on generally opposite edges of the distal end of the cutting tube, said first and second cutting edges being separated by a distance D that is approximately equal to the width W of the strip of tissue to be cut; B) advancing the protruding tip of the cutting tube through tissue such that the first and second cutting edges are positioned adjacent to tissue to be cut; C) advancing the distal end such that the cutting edges cut a strip of tissue of approximate width W and the cut strip of tissue remains substantially intact and enters through the distal end opening and into the lumen of the cutting tube.