Patent ID: 7491210

Claim:
A method of removing material from a patient's breast, said method comprising: forwardly inserting a shaft having an expandable biaxially braided member into the breast toward targeted material to be removed, the braided member having a longitudinal axis, a channel, a proximal end, an intermediate region, and terminating in an open, radially expandable distal end which selectively moves between a radially compressed state as a result of the application of longitudinal tension to the braided member and a radially expanded state as a result of the application of longitudinal compression to the braided member; applying longitudinal compression to said expandable braided member where the distal end radially expands to the radially expanded state as a result of the application of longitudinal compression; pushing forward said expandable braided member such that at least a portion of the targeted material enters the channel of the expandable braided member through the open distal end; entrapping said targeted material within said braided member by applying longitudinal tension to the braided member moving said distal end to its radially compressed state; and using at least one extraneous energy source other than the pushing forward of the expandable braided member to aid said expandable braided member in removal of said targeted material.