Patent ID: 7488295

Claim:
A tissue acquisition device useful in retrieving tissue samples from a patient, comprising: an inner cannula having a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis extending between said proximal and distal ends, a tubular sidewall, a cut out in the sidewall proximal to the distal end and a first inner lumen extending within at least a portion of the inner cannula to the cut out in the sidewall; an outer cannula having a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis extending between said proximal and distal ends, a tubular sidewall, a cut out in the tubular sidewall of the outer cannula proximal to the distal end and a second inner lumen extending within at least a portion of the outer cannula; a tissue penetrating distal tip; and an electrically conducting cutting wire slidably and rotatably disposed in the first inner lumen of the inner cannula, having a proximal end and a distal end and having a cutting loop at a said distal end which is configured to rotate from a position within the inner cannula out of the inner cannula through the cut out in the side wall thereof in a plane traversing the longitudinal axes of the inner and outer cannulas to a position exterior to the outer cannula, to move longitudinally in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axes exterior to the outer cannula and to rotate from a position exterior to the outer cannula into the inner cannula through the cut outs in the side wall of the inner and outer cannulas in a plane traversing the longitudinal axes.