Importance

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Abstract

An applicator is disclosed for implanting seeds at variably spaced locations in a patient's body. The applicator includes a needle insertable into the body, a base member adapted to be maintained generally stationary with respect to a surface of the body during use, and a needle chuck, which is slidably mounted with respect to the base member, for releasably coupling the needle. The applicator also includes a seed magazine mounted on the needle chuck for dispensing seeds into the needle bore, a stylet extendable through the needle bore for forcing seeds in the bore into the patient's body, and a barrel attached to the needle chuck. The barrel includes five rows of spaced indentations. The indentations in each row are generally equally spaced from adjacent indentations in that row, and the indentation spacing in each row is different from other rows. A ball plunger, which is movably mounted in the base member, successively engages the indentations of a selected row as the barrel is moved with respect to the base member to releasably fix the needle relative to the base member in a plurality of variably spaced positions relative to the base member in order to enable seeds to be implanted at variably spaced locations in the patient's body.

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First Claim