A probe sheath and probe wire having a memory hook and soft flexibility are used to locate a small presymptomatic breast lesion, wherein the wire is sheathed within the sheathing cannula and both are inserted into the body tissue and directed to the site of the lesion. Thereafter the wire is extended through the sheath to assume its memory configuration and its location is determined mammographically. If re-positioning is necessary the wire may be retracted into the sheath and then extended and re-anchored after the wire and sheath are directed to a new position. When the probe wire location is acceptable the cannula is removed and the probe wire is left as a marker for surgical excision of the lesion.
An improved apparatus and method for insertion of a sphenoidal wire electrode. The apparatus includes a needle (22) carrying a wire (24) having a turned-back distal portion (34) beside the needle and terminating forwardly along the slant-tip (28). The method includes positioning the wire in the needle with such turned-back distal portion as described, inserting the needle and wire, engaging the tissue with the turned-back portion to resist unintended relocation during needle withdrawal and the subsequent test period, and unfolding the turned-back portion of the wire to straighten it by initial pulling of the wire after the test period.
A wire probe unit having stabilizer with a clamp and a mating cap for locking and precisely positioning a memory probe wire relative to a needle cannula having a hub with a socket at one end and a beveled point at the other end. The clamp has a guide post extending from one end thereof and a set of clamping fingers extending from an opposite end thereof. The guide post is configured to be received within the socket of the hub and the fingers are configured to captively hold the probe wire which is fed through a central bore in the stabilizer and needle cannula. The clamping fingers have tapered ends which fit into a fustro conical socket formed internally of the cap. When the stabilizer is in a retracted position, the probe wire is sheathed in the cannula needle and when the stabilizer is in its forward position, a J-shaped hook at the end of the probe wire extends outwardly from the tip of the needle a predetermined distance.
An orthopedic bone probing device to locate cavities, holes, and crevices in bones. For instance, where holes are drilled in bones to accommodate fastening devices it is important to ascertain if there are any sites where the drilling penetrated the entire side wall of the bone resulting in an undesirable hole in the side wall of the bone. The device of this invention consists of a cannula containing a shaft of superelastic material that assumes a retractable position angular to the axis of the cannula upon being ejected from one end of the cannula and the other end of the cannula is retained by a plunger that limits the amount of shaft that can be ejected and necessitates the removal of the shaft if the cannula is to be removed.
A lesion localization device and method for localizing lesions are disclosed herein. In the disclosed device, a pair of small diameter shape memory wires are twisted about each other to form an elongate guiding portion extending along a longitudinal axis to an anchoring portion at the distal end of the device. The anchoring portion, which is formed by the distal end portions of the pair of shape memory wires, includes a plurality of loops which radially extend in multiple separate directions away from the longitudinal axis of the device.
A modified wire having one or more markers for locating lesions contained within afflicted tissue, wherein the markers help establish the position of the surgeon's scalpel in relation to the tip of the wire and to the lesion so that the surgeon can quickly and accurately remove the lesion which may or may not be contained near the tip of the modified wire. Each marker comprises a palpable surface which is detectable when the surgeon encounters the marker.
