Medical tissue-obtaining system
OwnerAlbert R. Milan, Raymond L. Markleyinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An endometrial tissue-obtaining instrument includes a spiral section formed at one end of a flat plastic member and a handle portion at the other end. The spiral section is insertable into the womb of a female patient and rotated by the handle portion to remove endometrial tissue from the wall of the womb. The spiral section is withdrawn with the specimen of tissue. The trailing portion of the spiral section is inserted into a slot of a plastic paddle and pulled away from the paddle so that the spiral section moves through the slot and is rotated thereby. The thickness of the slot permits the wiping, or extruding, of the tissue from the spiral section onto the paddle whereafter the paddle is manipulated to deposit the tissue onto a slide or stored for future purposes.
Claims5
A medical system for obtaining tissue samples, comprising:
- tissue gathering means including a helically-shaped end section, said end section being formed of a flat, elongated, and essentially rectangular member twisted about its longitudinal axis such that the edges thereof which extend in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of said member are disposed in a helically wound fashion about said longitudinal axis, the surface of the end section being of a matte finish to enhance adhesion of tissue thereon;
- means for manipulating said gathering means and being joined to the inner end portion of said end section;
- and,
- a flat paddle-shaped member having a slot-like opening formed therein, at least a portion of the helically-shaped end section of the tissue gathering means being disposed within the slot-like opening and being movable relative thereto to transfer tissue adhering to the end section from said end section to a surface of the flat paddle-shaped member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.