Patent ID: 8131346

Claim:
An apparatus for percutaneously implanting a localization wire within a tissue mass, comprising: a handle defining a hollow interior and an end; a cannula defining a lumen and having a distal end forming an insertion tip, wherein the cannula is slidably mounted to the end for movement relative to the handle between an insertion position and a retracted position; a collar mounted to the cannula and configured to define a key; a localization wire positioned to extend from the handle and into the lumen of the cannula, the localization wire having a distal end that is positioned near the insertion tip and contained within the lumen when the cannula is in the insertion position, wherein the localization wire comprises at least one anchor adapted to hold the localization wire in the tissue mass, the cannula and the localization wire being configured such that each of the at least one anchor remains completely contained in the cannula when the cannula is in the insertion position prior to the cannula being moved to the retracted position; a keyway shaped for receiving the key; an actuator comprising a biasing element in operable communication with the cannula and configured such that when the key and the keyway are unaligned the biasing element is in a charged condition and when the key and the keyway are aligned the biasing element is in a discharged condition; and a trigger rotatably mounted to the handle and operably connected to the key such that rotation of the trigger from a ready position to a release position aligns the key with the keyway to release the biasing element from the charged condition to the discharged condition to move the cannula from the insertion position to the retracted position; wherein the biasing element is located within the hollow interior extending between the end and the collar to retract the cannula from the insertion position to the retracted position to expose the distal end of the localization wire to the tissue mass and expose each of the at least one anchor to the tissue mass without inducing movement of the localization wire, and with the cannula being removable from the localization wire in its entirety.