Self-Contained Biopsy Needle With Integrated Vacuum Pump
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current biopsy devices are complex, costly, and lack simplicity, reliability, and ease of use, often requiring multiple parts and providing low performance in terms of penetration force, sample size, and sample integrity.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained, fully disposable, and automated biopsy device with a lightweight, low-cost design featuring a biopsy needle with a pump-generated vacuum and sequential drive elements for efficient tissue sampling and recovery, allowing for both tissue penetration and sample collection in a single-use, user-friendly format.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If current biopsy devices use external vacuum generators and complex drive mechanisms, then they can achieve tissue sampling, but the device complexity increases and manufacturing cost rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the vacuum pump, drive mechanism, and biopsy needle into a single integrated handpiece unit. The vacuum pump is directly mounted on the handpiece housing, eliminating the need for external vacuum generators and complex external control systems. This merging of components directly reduces device complexity while maintaining reliable tissue sampling capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The handpiece is designed as a self-contained unit that performs multiple functions: vacuum generation, needle actuation, and tissue sampling all within one device. The single motor drives both the vacuum pump and the needle mechanism through transmission mechanisms, allowing one component to perform multiple essential functions, thereby reducing overall system complexity.
2Ease of operation
If biopsy devices are designed as disposable single-use units, then ease of operation improves, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the entire handpiece as a disposable single-use unit that is discarded after one biopsy procedure. This eliminates the need for expensive sterilization processes, complex assembly/disassembly mechanisms, and maintenance systems. The disposable design simplifies manufacturing by allowing for more economical materials and assembly methods, actually reducing overall manufacturing cost despite the higher unit price.
Solution Approach 2:
The biopsy system is segmented into a disposable handpiece containing all necessary components (motor, pump, needle) and a separate reusable needle shaft that can be sterilized and reused. This segmentation allows the expensive, complex components to be disposed of in a controlled manner while the simpler needle shaft is reused, optimizing the balance between ease of operation and manufacturing cost.
3Productivity
If automated drive mechanisms are integrated into the handpiece, then productivity increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual operation with an integrated electric motor that automatically performs both vacuum generation and needle actuation. The motor drives a transmission mechanism that converts rotational motion into the required linear and vacuum-generating motions. This automation significantly increases sampling efficiency and productivity while the integrated design keeps the added complexity manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive mechanism uses a variable speed motor that can dynamically adjust its operation to perform different functions at different speeds. The transmission mechanism allows the same motor to provide high-speed vacuum pumping during one phase and controlled slow motion during needle actuation. This dynamic capability enables automated high-productivity operation without requiring multiple separate mechanisms, thus limiting the increase in device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device achieves high-performance tissue sampling with substantial sample recovery, reduced complexity, and lower manufacturing costs, ensuring reliability and ease of use while maintaining sample integrity.
Implementation Method 1
A pump generates a vacuum in the sample volume
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating a biopsy device includes providing a sampling mode for taking a tissue sample with a biopsy needle; providing an insertion/removal mode for inserting or extracting the biopsy needle from living tissue; displacing a primary drive member through a continuous range that defines a first interval and a second interval; transmitting a motive force via the primary drive member to a first drive element during the first interval to cause a pump to generate a vacuum in the biopsy needle; and, transmitting a motive force via the primary drive member to a second drive element during the second interval to change the biopsy needle from the insertion/removal mode to the sampling mode.