Vacuum assisted biopsy device

1. A biopsy device, comprising:

a cutting element mounted to a handpiece, said cutting element comprising:

a stylet assembly having a stylet that includes an open proximal end and a tissue opening at a distal end thereof, wherein the tissue receiving opening is in communication with a lumen extending through the stylet, wherein the stylet is formed with a blunt distal end; and

an outer cannula assembly including an outer cannula that is slidably mounted over the stylet and having an open distal end with a cutting edge formed thereon; and

a vacuum chamber in communication with the lumen;

wherein the stylet is selectively advanced distally outwardly with respect to the outer cannula to open the tissue opening to targeted tissue;

wherein the outer cannula assembly is actuated so as to at least partially expand the vacuum chamber to generate vacuum, wherein the outer cannula is automatically advanced over the tissue opening after the vacuum chamber is at least partially expanded so as to sever tissue, the vacuum causing tissue to be drawn into and maintained in the tissue opening while the cutting cannula severs tissue to obtain a biopsy core.

2. The biopsy device of claim 1 , further comprising a pickup carriage that operates to selectively move the stylet assembly and the outer cannula assembly between a biopsy ready and a fired position.

3. The biopsy device of claim 2 , wherein the pickup carriage further includes a moveable cam member disposed on a bottom surface of the pickup carriage.

4. The biopsy device of claim 2 , further comprising an actuation lever that is operatively connected to the pickup carriage by a resilient bridge member.

5. The biopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the stylet assembly further comprises a first arm sub-assembly that is fixedly attached to the stylet and a second sub-assembly that is movably attached to the stylet.

6. The biopsy device of claim 5 , wherein the first arm sub-assembly includes a leg member and a carrier member.

7. The biopsy device of claim 5 , wherein the second arm sub-assembly includes a first leg member and a second leg member that are connected together by a carrier member.

8. The biopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the vacuum chamber comprises first and second seal members and a cylinder disposed over the first and second seal members;

wherein the first seal member is operatively connected to a moveable portion of the stylet assembly and the second seal member is fixedly attached to a portion of the stylet proximal to the first seal member;

wherein the stylet further includes a notch that is in communication with the lumen; and

wherein the notch is positioned between the first and second seal members.

9. The biopsy device of claim 8 , further comprising a vacuum valve that selective covers the notch.

10. The biopsy device of claim 1 , further comprising a normally closed valve disposed on a proximal end of the stylet.

11. The biopsy device of claim 10 , wherein the normally closed valve further comprises a body and a flap member that selective opens in response to positive pressure.

12. The biopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the handpiece further comprises a stylet firing member and an outer cannula firing member, wherein the stylet firing member releases the stylet from a biopsy ready position to a fired position; and wherein the outer cannula firing member releases the outer cannula from a biopsy ready position to a fired position.

13. The biopsy device of claim 12 , wherein at least one of the stylet firing member and the outer cannula firing member includes an indicator that differentiates between the stylet firing member and the outer cannula firing member.

14. The biopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the handpiece further comprises an indicator that informs a user when the biopsy device is in a biopsy ready position.

15. The biopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the outer cannula assembly further comprises an outer cannula hub that is fixedly connected to the outer cannula; wherein the outer cannula hub includes a retaining member that serves to selectively retain the outer cannula assembly in a biopsy ready position within the handpiece.

16. The biopsy device of claim 15 , further comprising a support rib, wherein the support rib is slidingly received on the stylet, proximal to the outer cannula hub.

17. The biopsy device of claim 16 , wherein a biasing member is positioned between the support rib and the outer cannula hub.

18. The biopsy device of claim 1 , further comprising an introducer assembly that is selectively engagable with the biopsy device, wherein the introducer assembly comprises an introducer cannula that is configured to be slidingly disposed over the outer cannula and sized such that a portion of the outer cannula is positioned distally of a distal end of the introducer cannula.

19. The biopsy device of claim 18 , wherein the introducer assembly includes a latch member that cooperates with a portion of the handpiece of the biopsy device to selectively fix the introducer cannula to the biopsy device.