Automatic biopsy device housing a plurality of stylets

摘要

An automatic biopsy device for taking plural samples of tissue of a patient. The device is pneumatically operated in response to the depressing of a trigger by the operator and makes use of a removable cassette in which a plurality of stylets are located. The stylets are disposed on a moveable tray within the cassette and are arranged to be selectively positioned within the device for propulsion through a releasably mounted cannula at a high speed into the tissue to be sampled. Each stylet includes a groove adjacent its distal end into which the tissue to be sampled enters when the cannula is propelled into the tissue. Thereafter and in automatic response to the propulsion of the stylet through the cannula into the tissue, the cannula is propelled over the stylet to excise the tissue within the stylet's recess. The propulsion of the stylets and cannula is so rapid that the tissue sampling procedure is virtually pain-free. The stylet and cannula are retracted in response to release of the trigger so that the stylet is withdrawn into the cassette. The cassette is removable from the device and can be taken to a laboratory for analysis of the tissue samples, all the while protecting the tissue samples and the personnel handling them.