Akos Biomedical, Inc.

Arthur C Johnson

Brian S Kelleher

Dan Alan Vance

A flexible biopsy forceps device for acquiring more than one tissue sample comprises an elongated, flexible body having a central lumen and having a proximal end and a distal end. A control assembly is adjacent to the proximal end of the flexible body and a jaw assembly is coupled to the distal end. A jaw actuating means extends from the control assembly to the jaw assembly. The jaw assembly includes a pair of jaws that pivot from an open position to a closed position in response to movement of the jaw actuating means to surround and excise tissue samples. In their closed position, the jaw pair has a proximal opening aligned with the central lumen of the flexible body sized to allow passage of tissue samples. An intake means is disposed within the distal portion of the central lumen and may extend into the proximal opening of the jaw pair. An intake actuating means extends from the control assembly to the intake means and causes the intake means to engage a tissue sample and draw it into the lumen of the flexible body. Additional tissue samples may be excised by the jaws and serially drawn into the lumen by the intake means. At least the distal portion of the flexible body may be transparent to enable viewing of captured samples. Deflection means may be included in the device to bend the distal region toward the front of the imaging lens of an endoscope to allow observation of the intake process.

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La Jolla, CA, United States of America

Arthur C Johnson