Devices and methods for performing procedures on a breast
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of positioning a needle in a patient'"'"'s breast for a medical procedure, comprising the steps of:
- providing a needle having a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion being movable between a rigid condition and a flexible condition which may be selected by a user;
positioning the distal portion in a patient'"'"'s breast with the proximal portion remaining outside the breast, the distal portion being in the rigid condition for facilitating introduction into the patient'"'"'s breast;
changing the proximal portion from the rigid condition to the flexible condition after the positioning step; and
performing a medical procedure on the patient'"'"'s breast.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A needle is used to mark a tissue area of interest. The needle may have one or more indicators which indicate selected angular orientations relative to the needle. The indicators may also be coupled to anchors which are deployed in the tissue to anchor the needle in the tissue. The needle may be positioned to guide an excisional device to remove tissue.
196 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A method of positioning a needle in a patient'"'"'s breast for a medical procedure, comprising the steps of:
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providing a needle having a proximal portion and a distal portion, the proximal portion being movable between a rigid condition and a flexible condition which may be selected by a user;
positioning the distal portion in a patient'"'"'s breast with the proximal portion remaining outside the breast, the distal portion being in the rigid condition for facilitating introduction into the patient'"'"'s breast;
changing the proximal portion from the rigid condition to the flexible condition after the positioning step; and
performing a medical procedure on the patient'"'"'s breast. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A needle for marking a patient'"'"'s breast when performing a medical procedure on the patient, comprising:
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a distal portion having an elongate, rigid shaft; and
a proximal portion coupled to the distal portion, the proximal portion being selectively movable between a rigid condition and a flexible condition, wherein the proximal portion is in the rigid condition during introduction into a patient'"'"'s breast and is movable to the flexible condition after introduction into the breast. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of positioning a needle in a patient'"'"'s breast for a medical procedure, comprising the steps of:
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providing a needle having at least one movable indicator for indicating an angular orientation when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the needle, the needle having a distal portion and a proximal portion;
positioning the distal portion in a patient'"'"'s breast with the proximal portion remaining outside the breast, moving the indicator to a position which provides an indication of a selected angular orientation relative to the longitudinal axis to move the indicator to a position which angularly bounds a tissue area to be removed from the breast, and performing a medical procedure using information from the selected angular orientation. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A method of positioning a needle in a patient'"'"'s breast for a medical procedure, comprising the steps of:
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providing a needle at least one movable indicator for indicating an angular orientation when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the needle, the needle having a distal portion that includes at least one anchoring element and a proximal portion;
positioning the distal portion in a patient'"'"'s breast with the proximal portion remaining outside the breast, moving the indicator to a position which provides an indication of a selected angular orientation relative to the longitudinal axis, the moving step being carried out by moving the at least one anchoring element, the at least one anchoring element being displaced angularly with respect to the longitudinal axis, and performing a medical procedure using information from the selected angular orientation. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of positioning a needle in a patient'"'"'s breast for a medical procedure, comprising the steps of:
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providing a needle having at least one movable indicator for indicating an angular orientation when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the needle, the needle having a distal portion and a proximal portion;
positioning the distal portion in a patient'"'"'s breast with the proximal portion remaining outside the breast, moving the indicator to a position which provides an indication of a selected angular orientation relative to the longitudinal axis by selecting at least two different angular positions when viewed along the longitudinal axis of the needle, and performing a medical procedure using information from the selected angular orientation. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of positioning a needle in a patient'"'"'s breast for a medical procedure, comprising the stops of:
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providing a needle having at least one movable indicator for indicating an angular orientation when viewed along a longitudinal axis of the needle, the needle having a distal portion and a proximal portion;
positioning the distal portion in a patient'"'"'s breast with the proximal portion remaining outside the breast, moving the indicator to a position which provides an indication of a selected angular orientation relative to the longitudinal axis and repeating the moving step at least once to indicate two different angular orientations relative to the longitudinal axis, and performing a medical procedure using information from the selected angular orientation. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A needle for introduction into a patient'"'"'s breast, comprising:
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an elongate shaft having a longitudinal axis; and
a first indicator for indicating an angular orientation when viewed along the longitudinal axis of the shaft, the first indicator being movable by the user to a selected angular orientation and being coupled to an anchoring element, the anchoring element being displaced angularly with respect to the longitudinal axis when the first indicator is moved by the user. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A needle for introduction into a patient'"'"'s breast, comprising:
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an elongate shaft having a longitudinal axis;
a first indicator for indicating an angular orientation when viewed along the longitudinal axis of the shaft, the first indicator being movable by the user to a selected angular orientation, and a second indicator for indicating another angular orientation when viewed along the longitudinal axis of the shaft. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A method of excising breast tissue, comprising the steps of:
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providing a guide element and a cutting device, the cutting device having a deployable cutting element mounted on a shaft, the cutting device also having a tissue collection element;
introducing the guide element into a patient'"'"'s breast;
advancing the cutting device into the patient'"'"'s breast, the cutting device being slidably coupled to the guide element so that the guide element guides the cutting device as the cutting device is advanced into the patient'"'"'s breast;
deploying a cutting element on the cutting device after the advancing step, the cutting element moving from a collapsed position to an expanded position, the cutting element bowing outwardly from the shaft when being deployed;
rotating the shaft so that the cutting element severs breast tissue, the severed breast tissue entering the tissue collection element which trails the cutting element as the cutting element moves through the breast tissue when the shaft is rotated; and
removing the breast tissue which has been severed by the cutting element and is contained within the tissue collection element. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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Specification