the present invention provides a device and method to ensure that a selected inner portion of a body cavity is gripped , so that a suspect area possibly containing a tumor as well as a small surrounding area of healthy tissue may be removed . the additional amount of healthy tissue being removed is necessary to provide a safety margin portion of tissue , to ensure that all of the suspect area has been cut away from the body cavity . the invention also ensures that the entire tissue sample that has been cut is actually removed from the body cavity before the endoscope and associated tools are removed . the invention prevents the cut tissue from falling out of the device and being left within the body cavity , so that further study of the removed tissue to perform a diagnosis is possible . the invention protects the cut tissue from the surrounding area while withdrawing it from the body cavity , so that the sample is not contaminated by extraneous materials on the way out of the body cavity . in addition , the invention limits the amount of healthy tissue surrounding the suspect area that is damaged when the suspect area is removed from the body cavity . fig1 shows a diagram of an embodiment according to the invention , used in conjunction with a ftrd to remove a suspect area from a body cavity . ftrd 10 is inserted within a body cavity 20 either through an incision made by the surgeon or through a natural opening of the cavity . body cavity 20 is roughly tubular in shape , and has an inner surface 22 that includes a suspect area 24 . the suspect area 24 may be either a lesion that has to be removed and analyzed to determine if it is cancerous , or a growth such as a polyp that has to be removed , or from which a biopsy must be taken . the vacuum grabber device 30 is inserted inside a working channel 36 formed in the center of the ftrd 10 , and includes a vacuum line 32 and a flexible cup 34 attached to the vacuum line 32 . the vacuum grabber device 30 is adapted to be inserted in the ftrd 10 , so that both components can be introduced within the patient &# 39 ; s body cavity 20 . the distal end of ftrd 10 is placed in position near the suspected lesion 24 located on inner wall 22 of the body cavity 20 , and the vacuum grabber device 30 can thus also reach the suspected lesion 24 . when vacuum grabber device 30 is inserted in the working channel of ftrd 10 , the flexible cup portion 34 is in the folded configuration , so that it can more easily travel through working channel 36 . fig2 shows this configuration . once ftrd 10 is positioned within the body cavity 20 near the suspect region 24 , head assembly 38 of the ftrd 10 is opened , for example by pushing on control wire 40 which connects the head assembly 38 to an area outside of the patient &# 39 ; s body . once head assembly 38 is opened , vacuum grabber device 30 is pushed outside of ftrd 10 through an opening between the main body of ftrd 10 and the head assembly 38 . although the present embodiment of the invention is described in conjunction with a ftrd , other insertion devices capable of excising a portion of tissue within a body cavity can also be used . the present invention is thus generally usable to capture a suspect portion of the inner surface of a body cavity so that treatment , observations or removal to the suspect portion of tissue may be performed . in another embodiment according to the invention , vacuum grabber device 30 could be inserted into the patient &# 39 ; s body cavity 20 by means of an insertion device other than an ftrd that can shield the vacuum line 32 and the flexible cup 34 . once the insertion device reaches the suspect area of interest , an opening could be made in the insertion device to eject the vacuum grabber device 30 . for example , the insertion device could be similar to the ftrd , but without the ability to cut and staple the tissue of the body cavity 20 . as described above , the cutting and stapling functions could be performed by additional tools inside or adjacent to the insertion device . as shown in fig1 and 3 , vacuum grabber device 30 is pushed outside of the opening made between head assembly 38 and the main body of ftrd 10 , at which point the folded flexible cup 34 automatically deploys into a substantially funnel shaped configuration . in a preferred embodiment according to the invention shown in fig3 the flexible cup in the deployed configuration has a substantially funnel shape , with a small opening 31 connected to the vacuum line 32 , and a larger opening 46 adapted to be placed over the suspect region 24 that requires treatment . the flexible cup can have openings that are not round , as long as it can be connected to the source of vacuum , and the large opening can cover the desired portion of tissue . after exiting the working channel 36 of ftrd 10 , the flexible cup 34 opens to its deployed configuration automatically , due to the force exerted by resilient elements that make up the structure of flexible cup 34 . for example , a resilient ring - like structure 42 can be disposed near the large opening 46 , so that once it is no longer constrained , flexible cup 34 will open to its funnel configuration . in addition , or instead of resilient ring 42 , several resilient ribs 44 can be located on the sides of flexible cup 34 to force it in the deployed configuration once its no longer constrained within working channel 36 . the resilient elements can be embedded in a transparent membrane 40 forming the flexible cup , or can be placed inside or outside of membrane 40 . other configurations of resilient elements 42 and 44 could be used , such as spiral configurations , multiple rings , or any other known configurations that will open flexible cup 34 to its proper shape . the vacuum grabber device 30 can be moved axially along the inside of body cavity 20 by simply pushing or pulling on the vacuum line 32 . in addition , in one embodiment according to the invention , flexible cup 34 is placed at an angle from the center line of vacuum line 32 , so that rotating vacuum line 32 will cause large opening 46 of flexible cup 34 to sweep in a generally circumferential direction along the inner surface 22 of body cavity 20 . this configuration allows large opening 46 to be placed over a selected portion of the body cavity . in one preferred embodiment according to the invention , the flexible cup 34 is made of a flexible polymer that is clear , for example , a plasticized silicon material . other materials could be used that are transparent and substantially air tight , so that a vacuum can be applied and held by the flexible cup . the materials preferably can insulate the suspect lesion or other tissue that was removed from the surrounding body cavity , so that it will not be contaminated by extraneous materials when it is withdrawn from the body . the flexible cup must be sufficiently transparent so that the tissue in question can be seen through the flexible cup . for example , an endoscope could be used to look at the tissue through membrane 40 . in yet another embodiment according to the invention , a mesh 50 or other type of screen can be located in the vacuum line 32 , or near the small opening of flexible cup 34 . this screen is designed to prevent portions of the tissue that was removed from traveling down the vacuum line , and can also be used to form a holding area for the tissue , so that it will be protected from contamination by vacuum line 32 and by the membrane 40 of flexible cup 34 . the operation of vacuum grabber device 30 will now be explained with reference to fig1 through 3 . ftrd 10 or another type of insertion device is inserted in body cavity 20 and is navigated by the surgeon to a location near suspect lesion 24 , located on inner surface 22 of the body cavity 20 . at this point , vacuum grabber device 30 is inside working channel 36 of ftrd 10 , and flexible cup 34 is in the folded configuration shown in fig2 . when ftrd 10 is in place , head assembly 38 is opened , and flexible cup portion 34 is ejected outside of ftrd 10 . as explained above , flexible cup 34 opens in its funnel configuration once no longer constrained in working channel 36 . the surgeon can look for suspect lesion 24 through the endoscope 11 which is also inserted through the working channel of ftrd 10 , and can position flexible cup 34 over the suspect le ion by rotating , pulling and pushing vacuum line 32 . by looking with the endoscope 11 through transparent membrane 40 of flexible cup 34 , the surgeon can position the funnel - like flexible cup over the suspect lesion 24 , and can start applying a vacuum by operating means , such as vacuum pump 60 , which can provide both an adjustable vacuum and positive pressure in vacuum line 32 . while looking through transparent membrane 40 of flexible cup 34 , the surgeon can vary the amount of vacuum and positive pressure applied to the flexible cup 34 , so that the selected inner portion of the body cavity containing the suspect lesion 24 as well as a safety margin portion 26 of healthy tissue surrounding the suspect lesion 24 is gripped and contained within flexible cup 34 . in a preferred embodiment , the safety margin portion 26 can extend beyond lesion 24 by about 3 mm to 6 mm . when the surgeon is satisfied that the selected inner portion of body cavity is firmly held by vacuum within flexible cup 34 , the vacuum grabber device 30 can be partially withdrawn inside the ftrd 10 to pull the selected inner portion of body cavity into a desired operating position relative to the ftrd 10 , inside the chamber 44 formed by the open head assembly 38 . the surgeon at that point can operate cutting device 56 that is part of the ftrd 10 , to separate the selected inner portion of the body cavity from the rest of inner surface 22 . for example , cutting device 56 can be an extendable and movable blade . a stapling portion 58 of ftrd 10 can be used at that point to close the wound left by the removed portion of the body cavity , so that healing will be promoted . the specific configuration of cutting device 56 and stapling portion 58 can vary , as long as a portion of the body cavity drawn inside ftrd 10 is cut and the severed sides of the remaining healthy tissue are stapled together . the selected inner portion of body cavity containing suspect lesion 24 as well as a margin of safety portion 26 of healthy tissue is thus held by vacuum within flexible cup 34 , and after cutting is withdrawn from the body of the patient while being protected from contamination by membrane 40 of flexible cup 34 . a pathology study of suspect lesion 24 can then be carried out without the concern that the results may be affected by possible contamination of the sample . according to one embodiment of the invention , the selected inner portion of body cavity that was removed can be held near the flexible cup 34 by a screen 50 acting as a sample catcher . alternatively , the selected inner portion can be drawn by vacuum all the way down vacuum line 32 , and can be collected outside of the body at the proximal opening of vacuum line 32 . in one embodiment , ftrd 10 can be inserted into the patient and can carry an endoscope in a working channel of the ftrd . alternatively , the ftrd could be inserted separately from the endoscope , in the same cavity . the important consideration in positioning the endoscope is that the surgeon must be able to see the flexible cup 34 and the suspect lesion area 24 , so that the transparent flexible cup 34 can be correctly placed over the lesion area 24 , and the selected inner portion of the body cavity can be drawn within flexible cup 34 . in yet another embodiment according to the invention , flexible cup 34 can be provided in various sizes , so that the appropriate cup can be applied to different size lesions to ensure that the entire lesion plus a safety margin of healthy tissue can be drawn inside the flexible cup 34 . in addition , for cases where the lesion 24 has a very irregular shape , specially designed flexible cups could be used , either having very high flexibility or having specific shapes of the large opening 46 to accommodate the irregularly shaped lesion . in the latter case , flexible cup 34 should have dimensions commensurate with the largest dimension of the lesion , such as the lesion length or diameter . an increased vacuum may also be necessary to firmly hold a lesion having an irregular shape within flexible cup 34 . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the structure and methodology of the present invention , without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .
a grabbing device includes a transparent flexible cup that can be placed adjacent to a selected region of an inner surface of a body cavity . the flexible cup is visually put in place by the surgeon , and a vacuum is applied to draw a selected amount of tissue into the flexible cup , so that it may , e . g ., be excised . the device may also retrieve the tissue excised from the body cavity .