US Patent 8486028 Tissue marking apparatus having drug-eluting tissue marker

A tissue marking apparatus includes a marker introducer that has a cannula and a stylet. The cannula has a lumen and a marker exit port. The stylet is slidably received in the lumen. The stylet has a distal end. A tissue marker is configured to be received in the lumen distal to the distal end of the stylet. The tissue marker is a drug-eluting tissue marker for marking a site in a tissue mass, and has a drug-eluting portion having a drug for release to the site and a material that can be imaged using an imaging technique.