as shown in fig1 through 6 , the present invention comprises a housing 1 , which has a proximal end 5 and a distal end 10 . a lumen 15 extends between the proximal and distal ends 5 and 10 , and may preferably have a generally circular cross - section . a distal aperture 20 is defined at the point where the lumen 15 exits the distal end 10 of the housing 1 . in operation , the housing 1 is attached to the working end 30 of an endoscope 25 by means , for example , of an elastic ring 26 coupled to a proximal end of the housing 1 as is known in the art . the endoscope 25 contains a working channel 35 , which is defined within the endoscope 25 between a proximal end 40 and the working end 30 . the working channel 35 is sized to allow the free passage of instruments from the proximal end 40 , through the working channel 35 to the working end 30 . in this manner , a user using the endoscope 25 can perform procedures on the patient in which the endoscope 25 and the housing 1 have been inserted . the endoscope 25 may be any standard endoscope which is sufficiently long to reach the targeted lesions within the patient &# 39 ; s body . in addition , the elastic ring 26 allows the housing 1 to be attached to endoscopes 25 of various sizes . it may also be preferable to have an external channel 45 located outside the endoscope 25 . as will be discussed later , a first embodiment of the invention includes a pull wire 100 that extends through an entrance port 55 of the external channel 45 to a position proximate an exit port 50 of the external channel 45 . a portion of the pull wire 100 extends beyond the entrance port 55 , so that a user may manipulate the pull wire 100 by applying a force on the exposed portion of the pull wire 100 . by having the pull wire 100 pass through the external channel 45 rather than through the working channel 35 of the endoscope 25 , a user may pass additional instruments , such as a needle 200 ( seen in fig6 ), through the working channel 35 of the endoscope 25 and the lumen 15 of the housing 1 without interfering or becoming entangled with the pull wire 100 . alternatively , as shown in fig9 in the third embodiment , the pull wire 100 may extend through the working channel 35 of the endoscope 25 to directly enter the housing 1 . as seen in fig1 and 3 , one or more ligating bands 60 are disposed about the housing 1 proximate the distal end 10 of the housing 1 . for sake of illustration , the housing 1 is shown in fig1 as holding three ligating bands 60 a - c , although any number of ligating bands 60 may be used . in the first embodiment of the invention , for example , a total of 3 - 8 or more ligating bands 60 and a corresponding number of severing snares 70 may preferably be used . the numbering of ligating bands 60 a - c corresponds to the order in which the ligating bands 60 a - c will be dispensed from the housing 1 . ligating band 60 a , for example , is located closest to the distal end 10 of the housing 1 and will therefore be the first ligating band 60 to be dispensed from the device . each ligating band 60 a - c , is partially engaged by a portion of a distal loop 65 a - c of a respective severing snare 70 a - c . each distal loop 65 a - c of the severing snares 70 a - c extends underneath each ligating band 60 a - c that is more distal than the corresponding ligating band 60 a - c which the respective severing snare 70 a - c is designed to engage , the respective loop 65 a - c then wraps over the respective band 60 a - c and passes back under the more distal of the bands 60 a - c to a snare catch 90 . distal loop 65 c , therefore , passes underneath ligating bands 60 a and 60 b , before wrapping around the ligating band 60 c and passing back underneath ligating bands 60 a and 60 b to the snare catch 90 . each severing snare 70 a - c also includes a proximal end 75 a - c , which is connected to the pull wire 100 at attachment points 80 a - c . the method by which a distal loop 65 a - c engages a ligating band 60 a - c will now be described with reference to distal loop 65 c and the corresponding ligating band 60 c . the distal loop 65 c passes from the lumen 15 of the housing 1 through a snare port 85 c . alternately , a portion of the snare 70 c exclusive of the distal loop 65 c may pass through the snare port 85 c , such that the entire distal loop 65 c is initially outside the housing 1 . first , the loop 65 c of the proximal - most snare 70 c is drawn out of the snare port 85 c so that each of side sections 65 c ′ and 65 c of the loop 65 c passes through snare notches 68 c and 68 c ′ to extend along the sides of the housing 1 . the ligating band 60 c is then installed over the housing 1 and the side sections 65 c ′ and 65 c ″ are drawn over the ligating band 60 c to extend around a snare catch 90 . thereafter , the loop 65 b of the snare 70 b is drawn out of the snare port 85 b , so that side portions 65 b ′ and 65 b of the loop 65 b pass through corresponding snare notches 68 b ′ and 68 b to extend along the sides of the housing 1 . the ligating band 60 b is then installed over the housing 1 , with the loop 65 c and the side sections 65 b ′ and 65 b on the distal side of the ligating band 65 c . the loop 65 b is then drawn over the ligating band 60 b to extend around the snare catch 90 and the process is repeated with each successive ligating band 60 moving distally along the housing 1 . although fig1 shows three snares 70 and three ligating bands 60 , those skilled in the art will understand that any number of snares and ligating bands may be employed using this installation procedure . all three distal loops 65 a - c engage the snare catch 90 . as seen in fig3 distal loop 65 c has been loaded onto snare catch 90 first , so that distal loops 65 a and 65 b can be disengaged from snare catch 90 without becoming entangled with distal loop 65 c . the same goes for distal loop 65 b with respect to distal loop 65 a . snare catch 90 is designed so that when a severing snare ( e . g ., 70 a ) is engaged , the ligating band 60 a will be dispensed from the housing 1 over snare catch 90 , without becoming entangled with any of the other distal loops 65 b or 65 c . as seen in fig4 each of the distal loops 65 a - c ( only distal loop 65 a is shown ) has a corresponding snare port 85 a - c and a respective pair of snare notches 68 a - c and 68 a ′- c ′ . in this manner , each distal loop 65 a - c can be dispensed from the housing 1 without becoming entangled with any other distal loop 65 a - c , provided the distal loops 65 are dispensed in the proper sequence ( i . e ., a , then b , then c ). also , snare ports 85 a - c are preferably slightly recessed proximally from the distal aperture 20 , to increase the angle at which the distal loops 65 a - c engage snare notches 68 a - c and 68 a ′- c ′ . as mentioned earlier , the proximal ends 65 a - c of the severing snares 70 a - c are attached to the pull wire 100 at attachment points 80 a - c at which electrically conducting portions of the distal loops 65 a - c are exposed , while remaining portions of the distal loops 65 a - c are electrically insulated except for distal end portions 82 a - c . the severing snare 70 a - c is attached to a pull wire 100 in such a manner so as to leave an amount of slack 105 b and 105 c in proximal ends 75 b and 75 c . this slack 105 b - c is useful because when the pull wire 100 is initially engaged , tension is applied to the proximal end 75 a of severing snare 70 a first , without being applied to the proximal ends 75 b - c of severing snares 70 b - c . instead , as the pull wire 100 moves proximally ( to the left in fig2 ), portions of the slack 105 b - c are taken up before tension is applied to the proximal ends 75 b - c . in this manner , the pull wire 100 may be used to manipulate each of the severing snares 70 a - c independently of one another . the amount of slack 105 b - c is preferably selected so that a respective ligating band 60 may be dispensed first by , e . g ., one half turn of the crank 112 while a targeted lesion 110 may be severed by the corresponding snare 70 ( e . g ., snare 70 a ) by a further one half turn of the crank 112 , after which the snare 70 a is drawn completely through the snare port 85 a into the housing 1 , before the slack 105 b associated with the next severing snare 70 b has been taken up . thus , the next snare 70 b and the corresponding ligating band 60 will not be dispensed accidentally immediately after snare 70 a has been deployed , ( i . e ., before the housing 1 is positioned adjacent to a second portion of tissue to be resected ). specifically , an amount of slack 105 b will be selected so that the length of snare 70 b is substantially equal to the length of the snare 70 a plus a length equal to a full turn of the crank 112 and the amount of slack 105 c will be selected so that the length of the snare 70 c is equal to the length of the snare 70 a plus two full turns of the crank 112 . as is known in the art , a device such as a pull wire crank 112 as shown in fig1 a and 10 b , may be used to apply the necessary force to the pull wire 100 preferably via a stiffened , hooked pull wire 100 a to dispense the ligating bands 60 a - c and to manipulate the severing snares 70 a - c . for example , the length of slack 105 may preferably be chosen so that a half turn of the pull wire crank 112 would release a ligating band 60 while a further one half turn of the crank 112 would draw the corresponding snare 70 into the housing 1 to sever the desired portion of tissue . the use of a slightly more rigid pull wire 100 a also makes the threading of the pull wire 100 through the endoscope easier . a detailed view of the attachment points 80 a - c of the pull wire 100 is shown in fig5 a - 5 c . as described above , in order to transfer r / f energy from the proximal end of the endoscope 25 to the snares 70 , the pull wire 100 is formed of electrically conducting material which may be selectively electrically coupled to each of the snares 70 a - c . this is accomplished through the action of slack 105 b - c . specifically , in an initial configuration , the pull wire 100 is electrically coupled to the loop 65 a through contact between the contact portion 80 a of the distal loop 65 a and a distal contact portion 100 ′ of the pull wire 100 in which the electrical insulation covering the remainder of a distal portion of the pull wire 100 is not present . of course , an area on the proximal portion of the pull wire 100 also includes a proximal contact portion 100 ″ at which the electrically conducting wire is exposed for coupling to the hooked pull wire 100 a which is , in turn , coupled to a source of r / f energy . of course , this source of r / f energy may be activated and deactivated by a user of the device through , for example , a foot switch ( not shown ). as shown in fig5 a - c , the distal loop 65 b is longer than the distal loop 65 a while the distal loop 65 c is longer than the distal loop 65 b , etc . thus , the length of each of the distal loops 65 is increased in a regular progression from the loop 65 a through the loop corresponding to the ligating band 60 installed proximal - most on the housing 1 . as described above , this increase in length which forms the slack 105 b - c ensures that only one of the snares 70 and the corresponding ligating band 60 will be activated at a time as the pull wire 100 is drawn proximally . in addition , this slack allows the source of r / f energy ( preferably coupled to the proximal contact area 100 ″ of the pull wire 100 via a plug 114 formed on the pull wire crank 112 ) to be coupled to the one snare 70 currently being manipulated by the user . as shown in fig5 b and 5 c , the pull wire 100 is formed as a loop of conducting material which extends through each of the loops 65 a - c so that , as the pull wire 100 is drawn proximally the first loop 65 a is drawn into the housing 1 and the distal contact portion 100 ′ of the pull wire 100 advances relative to the contact portion 80 b until the two contacting portions 80 b and 100 ′ come into contact with each other electrically coupling the loop 65 b with the source of r / f energy . similarly , after the user has finished with the snare 70 b , drawing the pull wire 100 further into the housing 1 draws the contacting portion 80 c further proximally until electrical contact with the distal contacting portion 100 ′ is established . thus , each of the loops 65 is first electrically linked to the source of r / f energy only as it is deployed from the housing 1 , while the inactive loops 65 which remain in position around the housing 1 are decoupled from the source to prevent injury to surrounding tissue . of course , the previously deployed snares 70 remain active , but these snares 70 are safely encased within the housing 1 . in use , as shown in fig6 the endoscope is advanced until the distal end is adjacent to a lesion 110 to be ligated . the device may be positioned visually via an optical device ( not shown ) mounted in the endoscope . after visualizing the lesion 110 , the user then decides whether to perform ligating band ligation , severing snare ligation , or a combination of the two on the targeted lesion 110 . the user may also decide whether to engage the lesion 110 or the vessel wall 115 with a sclerotherapy needle 200 , or other instrument , such as a forceps , basket , or cautery device , which may be passed through the working channel 35 of the endoscope 25 to the lumen 15 of the housing 1 . because the pull wire 100 preferably passes through the external channel 45 , the working channel 35 is clear for the user to pass such additional instruments therethrough . the user may draw the lesion 110 into the distal aperture 20 under suction or with an instrument such as a forceps and may employ the forceps or suction after engaging the lesion 110 with a ligating band 60 a , so that a tissue sample may be retrieved . after the lesion 110 has been drawn within the housing 1 , the user dispenses a ligating band 60 a from the housing 1 by applying a force to the pull wire 100 ( to the left in fig6 ). the now - dispensed ligating band 60 a engages lesion 110 and applies an inward force on the lesion 110 , thereby restricting the flow of blood from the vessel wall 115 to lesion 110 . in this manner , the desired level of hemostasis may be achieved and , eventually , the tissue dies and is sloughed off . after the user has drawn the lesion 110 within the housing 1 and has dispensed the ligating band 60 a from the housing 1 , the distal loop 65 a , which had engaged ligating band 60 a about housing 1 , is positioned about the stalk 120 of the lesion 110 . therefore , by drawing the pull wire 100 further proximally , the user pulls the distal loop 65 a about the stalk 120 , and may sever the lesion 110 either mechanically or electrosurgically . this severing step is preferably accomplished with one continual pull on pull wire 100 , which , if the user elects to sever the lesion 110 electrosurgically , is done while simultaneously applying r / f energy to the snare 70 a to facilitate cutting and cauterizing the targeted stalk 120 . if the user elects to use only ligating band ligation ( i . e ., not to use a severing snare ), the user simply dispenses the ligating band 60 a from the housing 1 after drawing the lesion 110 within the distal aperture 20 of the housing 1 by , for example , turning the crank 112 one half turn . then , the user releases the tissue from the housing 1 and draws the snare 70 into the housing by a further one half turn of the crank 112 . after the lesion 110 has been severed from the vessel wall 115 , the user may continue to apply suction through the working channel 35 to aspirate the lesion 110 through the lumen 15 into the working channel 35 of the endoscope 25 . alternately , the user may use suction to retain the lesion 110 within the lumen 15 of the housing 1 and then withdrawn the endoscope 25 and housing 1 from the patient . by proceeding in either of these manners , the user may obtain a sample of the lesion that has been severed for pathology evaluation . alternately , the user may pass an instrument , such as a forceps , through the working channel 35 of the endoscope 25 and retrieve a sample of the lesion 110 for further study , either before or after the lesion 110 has been severed from the vessel wall 115 . alternately , the user may disengage the suction means to allow the severed lesion 110 to pass through the body naturally . whether the lesion is completely aspirated through the working channel of the endoscope 25 , or allowed to pass through the body naturally , the user may proceed to treat additional lesions without removing the endoscope 25 from the patient . of course , if the user desires to treat multiple lesions , the present device must be preloaded with a corresponding plurality of severing snares 70 a - c and ligating bands 60 a - c , rather than a single snare 70 a and one ligating band 60 a , as shown in fig6 . when the first lesion 110 has been severed , the user simply positions the housing 1 adjacent to a second lesion 110 and repeats the above described method . a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in fig7 and 8 , in which a distal loop 125 of a severing snare 130 is positioned around the housing 1 , but is located behind the ligating band 135 ( i . e ., is positioned proximally with respect to the band 135 ). the severing snare 130 passes along the endoscope 25 through a sheath 138 , located outside the endoscope 25 . by containing the severing snare 130 and the pull wire ( not shown ) within the sheath 138 , the working channel 35 remains substantially clear so as to allow a user to pass an additional instrument , such as a needle ( not shown ) through the working channel 35 and through the lumen 15 without becoming entangled with the severing snare 130 or the pull wire . by applying a force to the pull wire in the distal direction ( i . e ., to the left in fig8 ), the distal loop 125 is moved toward the distal end 10 of housing 1 and dispenses the ligating band 135 from the housing 1 . as discussed previously , if it is desired to engage a lesion 110 with the ligating band 135 , the lesion is first suctioned into the lumen 15 of the housing 1 . then , with lesion 110 within the lumen 15 , the ligating band 135 is dispensed to engage the stalk 120 of the lesion 110 . by moving the pull wire further in the distal direction , the user can position the distal loop 125 around the desired portion of the lesion 110 and then retract the pull wire in the proximal direction to tighten the distal loop 125 about the lesion 110 and sever the lesion 110 mechanically or electrosurgically . movement of the pull wire is preferably controlled by a handle 140 or similar means . in the second embodiment of the invention , it is preferable to use a fairly sturdy distal loop 125 so that a ligating band 135 may be dispensed from the housing 1 when the pull wire is moved in the distal direction . that is , the pull wire must be stiff enough to carry a compressive load from the user to the distal loop 125 sufficient to overcome the friction forces maintaining the ligating band 135 on the housing 1 . an apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the invention , as shown in fig1 - 13 , is similar in construction to the previously described embodiments except that a single pull wire 100 is threaded through the device 1 to create a plurality of snares 70 which extend around the housing 1 abutting snares 70 a - c which are located proximally of an optional proximal end wall 118 . as seen in fig1 , an instrument 116 , e . g . a sclerotherapy needle , is present in the working channel 35 as well as the single pull wire 100 which extends through the working channel 35 in the space surrounding the instrument 116 to a first snare port 85 a . the use of a single pull wire 100 allows the working channel 35 to comfortably accommodate an instrument 116 while providing the required control of the snares 70 a - c . in addition , as no channels external to the endoscope are required with this apparatus , the cross - section of the device remains circular and the maneuverability of the device is enhanced . specifically as shown in fig1 , the pull wire 100 of this embodiment includes a first knot 102 , a second knot 104 , a third knot 106 , a fourth knot 105 , a fifth knot 107 and a loop 108 . the pull wire 100 extends through the snare port 85 a and underneath the ligating band 60 a so that the knot 102 is located adjacent to a proximal edge of ligating band 60 a . the pull wire 100 then wraps around the housing 1 to form snare 70 a and passes back under the ligating band 60 a and through the snare port 85 a so that the knot 104 is located proximally of the snare port 85 a . the knot 104 and the snare ports 85 a and 85 b are sized relative to one another so that the knot 104 may not pass through either of the snare ports 85 a and 85 b . the pull wire 100 extends from the knot 104 through the snare port 85 b , passes underneath the ligating band 60 a , under the snare 70 a and under the ligating band 60 b so that the knot 106 abuts a proximal edge of the ligating band 60 b and wraps around the housing 1 to form snare 70 b . the pull wire 100 wraps around the housing 1 and passes back under the ligating band 60 b , under the snare 70 a , under the ligating band 60 a and reenters the snare port 85 b so that the knot 105 is located on the proximal side of the snare port 85 b . the knot 105 and the snare ports 85 b and 85 c are sized relative to one another so that the knot 105 may not pass through either of the snare ports 85 b and 85 c . of course , those skilled in the art will understand that , although this embodiment is shown with 3 ligating bands 60 a - c and 70 a - c , this wrapping pattern may be repeated to create as many snares 70 as are desired until , after the pull wire 100 has passed under the proximal - most ligating band , 60 c in fig1 , the pull wire 100 extends from the knot 107 abutting the proximal edge of the band 60 c , around the housing 1 where , after encircling the housing 1 , the snare 70 c is formed by tieing a loop 108 around the preceding portion of the pull wire 100 . those skilled in the art will understand , although fig1 shows the ligating bands 60 a - c spaced apart , that this is for illustration only . as the single pull wire 100 of this apparatus will transmit energy to all of the snares 70 a - c when the source of r / f energy is engaged , the snares 70 a - c should preferably be prevented from damaging adjacent tissue by abutting the ligating bands 60 a - c against one another . thus , the snares 70 a - c will not contact the surrounding tissue . in operation , when a portion of lesion tissue 110 is drawn into the housing 1 and it is desired to deploy the band 60 a , the user turns the crank 112 one half turn as described above and the pull wire and the knot 102 are drawn distally across the housing 1 , pulling the band 601 off of the distal end of the housing 1 . further rotation of the crank 112 will tighten the snare 70 a around the lesion 110 , eventually severing the tissue . once the snare 70 a has been fully retracted into the snare port 85 a ( knot 102 is sized so that it may pass through the snare port 85 a ), the pull wire 100 straightens out and portion of the pull wire 100 which formed the snare 70 a no longer forms a loop . the amount of the pull wire 100 that needs to be taken up to fully retract the snare 70 a also serves the purpose of preventing the premature release of the more proximal bands 60 b - 60 c , etc . when a second portion of lesion tissue 110 has been located and drawn into the housing 1 , the second ligating band 60 b is released by a further one half turn of the crank 112 . the knot 104 is drawn into the working channel 35 of the endoscope and knot 106 draws the band 60 b off of the distal end of the housing 1 . thereafter , the operation of the snare 70 b and any number of more proximally located snares 70 would be the same as that described for 70 a and except that the proximal - most snare 70 will tighten like a noose as the pull wire 100 is drawn proximally , sliding through the loop 108 . still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the above - recited detailed description , wherein only preferred embodiments of the invention has been shown and described . the description of the preferred embodiments is simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention . as will be realized , the invention is capable of other and different embodiments , and its several details are capable of modification in various respects , all without departing from the invention . accordingly , the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature , and the scope of the invention is intended to be limited only by the claims appended hereto .
a system for severing lesions within a living body includes a housing defining an interior tissue receiving chamber is coupled to the distal end of an endoscope . at least one snare extends around the ligating band supporting surface so that , when at least one ligating band is received around the ligating band supporting surface , drawing the at least one snare off the ligating band supporting surface releases a corresponding ligating band from the ligating band supporting surface . in addition , a method for severing tissue comprises the steps of introducing into the body an endoscope to which a housing defining an interior tissue receiving chamber is coupled , wherein at least one snare and at least one ligating band extend around the ligating band supporting surface and advancing the distal end of the endoscope into the body until the housing is located adjacent to a first portion of tissue to be severed . the first portion of tissue is then drawn into the interior chamber and a snare is drawn off the distal end of the housing to release a corresponding ligating band from the ligating band supporting surface so that the ligating band and the snare encircle the first portion of tissue .