Importance

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Abstract

A medical diagnostic instrument for the ergonomic effective and safe harvesting of specimen at targeted remote tissue sites includes a pistol grip style handle with a hand activated lever and a specialized elongated flexible double tube needle shaft inside of a protective sheath for use, in a preferred embodiment, within an endoscope. The length of needle shaft is adjusted using locking buttons. Moving another set of buttons sets the needle penetration depth. With a squeeze of the lever, a novel thin band drive mechanism advances the needle shaft out of its sheath, through adjacent tissue and into the targeted site. The double tube needle shaft incorporates a pointed distal tip attached to an innermost 'grater' needle, which has sharp edged tissue cutting holes or 'grating' features that are exposed by retracting back an overlying cover tube. Sliding back the cover tube is achieved via a cam. The sharp cutting surfaces of the grater tube communicate directly with a vacuum source attached near the handle. Oscillation of the vacuum augmented grater tube back and forth within the targeted tissue yields small pieces of tissue for harvest. When adequate amounts of tissue are drawn into the grater tube, the cover tube is re-advanced over the distal grater tube, the needle shaft is retracted back into the sheath and the instrument along with the harvested specimen are removed from the patient.

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First Claim