Patent ID: 7699790

Claim:
A method of excising and testing material from a body lumen, the method comprising: providing a catheter having a rotating cutter, a tissue collection chamber, and a cutting window, the rotating cutter being movable between a stored position and an exposed position, at least part of the rotating cutter becoming exposed through the cutting window when moving to the exposed position; exposing the cutter by moving the cutter to the exposed position; advancing the catheter to move the rotating cutter through material in a first site in the body lumen, the rotating cutter remaining in the exposed position so that the cutter and the window maintain their orientation with respect to one another when advancing the catheter through the material, the material cut by the rotating cutter comprising a contiguous strand longer than the cutting window and retaining a structure of the tissue prior to removal and being directed through the cutting window and into the tissue collection chamber as the catheter is advanced through the material; removing the material from the collection chamber; and performing one or more tests on at least a portion of the material removed from the collection chamber.