US Patent 7479117 Single use biopsy device and method

A single use biopsy device (100) is disclosed. The device (100) includes a receptacle (102) having a port (104) for allowing tissue from a biopsy site to protrude into the receptacle (102) and a cutter (106) that is supported in the receptacle (102) and arranged so that when tissue from a biopsy site protrudes into the receptacle (102) through the port (104) the cutter (106) is movable to sever the tissue so as to obtain a biopsy sample. A stop (108) arrests the cutter (106) after the cutter (106) has severed the tissue. The arresting of the cutter by the stop (108) prevents reuse of the device (100). A method of obtaining a biopsy sample from a biopsy site using the biopsy device (100) is also disclosed.