Oriented biopsy needle assembly

Abstract

The oriented biopsy needle assembly includes a cannula hub assembly having a cannula hub fixedly attached to the proximal end of a cannula and a leg extending proximally from the proximal end of the cannula hub.. The cannula hub has a longitudinal coaxial bore therethrough axially aligned with and extending to the cannula. A stylet hub assembly fixedly attached to a sampling stylet includes a stylet hub at a proximal end, a shoulder portion, and a stem portion extending distally from the shoulder portion and terminating at a distal tip member. The distal tip member is slidably received on a rail of the leg extending proximally from the cannula hub to avoid undesirable rotational movement of the stylet and allow longitudinal movement of the stylet hub assembly on the rail only when the distal tip member is oriented such that the sharpened distal ends of the cannula and sampling stylet are oppositely directed. The distal tip member further includes a pair of distal guide teeth and a pair of proximal brace projections which cooperate with a rail stop at the proximal end of the rail to orientate the stylet hub assembly in a proximally retracted removably latched spaced relationship to the cannula hub assembly. Dislodging the tip member from the rail stop allows proximal withdrawal of the sampling stylet from the cannula so that multiple biopsies may be obtained with one insertion of the cannula.