Puncture guide for computer tomography
First Claim
1. An apparatus for guiding a puncture instrument through an entry point in the body of a patient to a target location within said body of said patient, comprising:
- support means for establishing a fixed reference point adjacent to said body of said patient;
path determining means mounted to said support means and adjustable to define a path through said entry point in a predetermined direction;
instrument holding means mounted to said path determining means and slidably movable with respect thereto along said path defined by said path determining means for holding a puncture instrument and for moving said puncture instrument along said path defined by said path determining means; and
depth determining means operatively associated with said path determining means for limiting the extent of said movement of said puncture instrument along said path, whereby said puncture instrument penetrates the patient'"'"'s body to a predetermined depth.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus is disclosed for guiding the needle of a tissue sampling device to a target location within the body of a patient. The device permits accurate and easy retrieval of acceptable tissue specimens from locations within the body of a patient which require angling of the needle to reach the target tissue. The apparatus further permits accurate and easy retrieval of tissue specimens from even small pathological changes, and the apparatus can be introduced into the tomograph with the patient to verify correct location of the biopsy needle with respect to the target tissue. The device not only directs the biopsy needle along the desired path but also controls the depth of penetration of the needle to prevent accidental overpenetration of the needle. The guidance device is not limited to the plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the patient but is capable of guiding the needle in a plane which is oblique to the longitudinal axis.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An apparatus for guiding a puncture instrument through an entry point in the body of a patient to a target location within said body of said patient, comprising:
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support means for establishing a fixed reference point adjacent to said body of said patient; path determining means mounted to said support means and adjustable to define a path through said entry point in a predetermined direction; instrument holding means mounted to said path determining means and slidably movable with respect thereto along said path defined by said path determining means for holding a puncture instrument and for moving said puncture instrument along said path defined by said path determining means; and depth determining means operatively associated with said path determining means for limiting the extent of said movement of said puncture instrument along said path, whereby said puncture instrument penetrates the patient'"'"'s body to a predetermined depth. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for retrieving a tissue specimen from the body of a patient using a puncture guidance device comprising a path determining means mounted to a support means and angularly adjustable with respect thereto, and an instrument holding means mounted to said path determining means and slidably movable with respect thereto such that the needle of a biopsy instrument mounted to said path determining means will follow a path defined by said path determining means as said instrument holding means slides with respect to said path determining means, said instrument holding means having a length of travel with respect to said path determining means which is adjustable by a user, said method comprising the steps of:
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placing a marking device comprising a plurality of parallel, spaced-apart X-ray opaque markers on the body of the patient such that the marking device lies generally in the plane within which an image is to be taken and such that the markers are disposed perpendicularly to the plane within which said image is to be taken; taking an image of the patient in an image plane using suitable imaging technology; identifying a target location within the body of the patient from said image; identifying from said image an optimum line of penetration from outside the patient'"'"'s body to said target location within the patient'"'"'s body; identifying on said image an entry location at which said line of penetration intersects the patient'"'"'s skin; identifying the X-ray opaque markers on said image adjacent said entry location; identifying the image plane on the patient'"'"'s body corresponding to the plane of said image; identifying the X-ray opaque markers on the patient'"'"'s body corresponding to the identified markers adjacent said entry location; locating the entry location on the patient'"'"'s body in the identified image plane and between the identified X-ray opaque markers; measuring the angle and depth of penetration on said image along said optimum line of penetration to said target location within the patient'"'"'s body; aligning said path determining means of said puncture guidance device such that said path defined by said path determining means corresponds to said measured angle of said optimum line of penetration; and adjusting said length of travel of said instrument holding means with respect to said path determining means such that a needle tip of a biopsy instrument mounted to said instrument holding means will penetrate to said measured depth of penetration to said target location; whereby when said instrument holding means is slidably advanced with respect to said path determining means, the needle tip of a biopsy instrument mounted to said instrument holding means will travel along a path intersecting said target location to a depth corresponding to said target location to position said needle tip for retrieving a biopsy specimen from said target location. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. An apparatus for mounting a tissue sampling instrument to a guidance device, said guidance device having a slot means defining a path of travel, and said apparatus comprising:
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sleeve means for receiving a tissue sampling instrument therein such that said instrument is retained within said sleeve means; and flange means operatively associated with said sleeve means for slidably engaging said slot means in said guidance device, said apparatus thereby being slidably mounted to said guidance device to guide said tissue sampling instrument along said path of travel. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification