Patent ID: 8128647

Claim:
A surgical instrument for excising a tumor from the tissue of a human body, comprising: an open ended tubular carrier, said tubular carrier having a proximal end and a distal end and a longitudinal axis, said carrier sized and shaped to telescopically receive a detection probe through said proximal end and to be positioned at said distal end, a plurality of parallel positioning tines mounted to said distal end of said tubular carrier extending in a circular array about said longitudinal axis of said tubular carrier for penetrating the tissue of the human body about the tumor, an open ended tubular cannula telescopically mounted about the exterior of said tubular carrier and telescopically movable about said positioning tines, said cannula including a cylindrical sidewall and a distal end, and at least one opening in said cylindrical sidewall for exposing the tissue of the human body, an open ended tubular cutter telescopically movable about said tubular carrier and said positioning tines and received within said cylindrical sidewall of said cannula, said tubular cutter including a cutting edge for extending beyond said distal end of said cannula for forming a cylindrical incision in the tissue of the human body surrounding said positioning tines and forming an opening in the tissue for receiving said cannula as said cannula and said cutter are inserted in the tissue, such that when the surgical instrument has formed an incision in the tissue of the human body the tubular cutter may be telescopically withdrawn from within the cannula and the cannula may remain in the tissue of the human body and is rotatable in the incision to position the opening of the cannula toward tissue adjacent the cannula, and a garrote wire extending about the interior of said cannula and between said cannula and said cutter for severing the tumor from the tissue inside said the cannula from the human body.