US Patent 7322938 Breast biopsy system and methods

An apparatus and method are provided for precisely isolating a target lesion in a patient's body tissue, resulting in a high likelihood of “clean” margins about the lesion when it is removed for diagnosis and/or therapy. This approach advantageously will often result in the ability to both diagnose and treat a malignant lesion with only a single percutaneous procedure, with no follow-up percutaneous or surgical procedure required, while minimizing the risk of migration of possibly cancerous cells from the lesion to surrounding tissue or the bloodstream. In particular, the apparatus comprises a biopsy instrument having a distal end adapted for entry into the patient's body, a longitudinal shaft, and a cutting element disposed along the shaft. The cutting element is actuatable between a radially retracted position and a radially extended position. Advantageously, the instrument is rotatable about its axis in the radially extended position to isolate a desired tissue specimen from surrounding tissue by defining a peripheral margin about the tissue specimen. The specimen may be encapsulated and removed as an intact piece.