Expandable Biopsy Needle with Rotating Inner Cannula
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current percutaneous biopsy needles lack advanced mechanisms for efficient sampling and minimally invasive procedures, particularly in expanding and grasping tissue samples, which can lead to incomplete or inaccurate diagnoses.
Innovation Solution
A percutaneous biopsy needle with an expandable section and an elastomeric sheath, featuring slits that allow for expansion and collapse, combined with a rotating inner cannula with apertures for cutting and aspiration, enabling effective tissue sampling and core extraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a traditional percutaneous biopsy needle is used, then the procedure is simple and minimally invasive, but the sampling efficiency and tissue grasping capability are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The biopsy needle incorporates an expandable section that can transition from a compressed low-profile state during insertion to an expanded state at the target site. This dynamic transformation allows the needle to maintain minimal invasiveness during insertion while providing enhanced tissue grasping and sampling capability once deployed, directly resolving the contradiction between simple insertion and efficient sampling.
Solution Approach 2:
The needle structure is divided into distinct functional segments: a introducer needle for insertion, an expandable section with cutting elements for tissue sampling, and an inner cannula for core extraction. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, improving overall sampling efficiency while maintaining relative simplicity of each individual component.
2Quantity of substance
If a larger gauge needle is used to obtain adequate tissue sample, then the sampling completeness improves, but the invasiveness of the procedure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable section transitions from a compressed state during insertion (minimizing invasiveness) to an expanded state at the target site (maximizing tissue sample quantity). This dynamic size change allows the system to obtain adequate tissue samples without requiring a large gauge needle for the entire insertion path, thereby reducing procedural invasiveness while maintaining sampling completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner cannula is nested within the expandable section, and the expandable section is nested within the introducer needle. This nested configuration allows the system to deliver a functional equivalent of a large-bore needle (for adequate sampling) through a small-bore introduction path, reducing invasiveness while maintaining tissue sample quantity.
3Measurement precision
If manual insertion is used, then the procedure is simple to perform, but the precision and accuracy of needle placement are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual mechanical insertion with image-guided positioning, where imaging systems (such as ultrasound or MRI) provide real-time feedback for precise needle placement. This substitution of mechanical skill-based insertion with technology-assisted guidance improves placement precision while maintaining reasonable ease of operation through standardized imaging protocols.
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 solution enhances sampling efficiency by allowing for controlled expansion and collapse of the biopsy needle, facilitating precise tissue grasping and cutting, thereby improving the accuracy and completeness of tissue samples obtained during minimally invasive procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The elastic sleeve around the proximal portion of the expandable section may ensure that the leaves return to their initial orientations and, thus, that the expandable section returns to its collapsed state
Implementation Method 2
a syringe may be used to aspirate a sample from the site of interest in a fine-needle aspiration procedure
Data Source
AI summary
A percutaneous access system is disclosed that includes a needle and an inner cannula. The needle includes an internal passageway. At a distal end, the needle includes an expandable section. A distal section of the internal passageway of the needle, which corresponds to the expandable section, is tapered to enable the expandable section to expand and collapse as the inner cannula is positioned within and/or moves through the tapered distal section. The inner cannula may enable grasping and/or aspiration of a sample from a location of interest within a subject's body. Biopsy methods are also disclosed.