Design of a Newpleural Biopsy Device for Improved Procedural Efficacy

Pleural biopsies are challenging procedures that rely heavily on the skill of the performing clinician as there is little to guide them other than the feel of the needle within the patient. This is especially true in resource-poor settings as the cost and availability of external imaging equipment (such as computed tomography, ultrasound scanners, or thoracoscopes), and the increased skill needed to use the equipment prohibits their regular usage during these procedures. As a result, basic cutting needle biopsies have high risks of causing damage to the lung when the needle is inserted past the pleural space, or low diagnostic rates as pleural tissue is often not included in the biopsies. However, despite these drawbacks, pleural biopsies are performed regularly, most notably for diagnosing tuberculous pleurisy in low- or middle-income countries. This paper proposes a new cutting needle design to firstly improve the yield of pleural tissue in the biopsies, and secondly, allow for multiple biopsies to be collected with a single insertion, minimising the risks usually associated with each needle insertion. Preliminary verification of the biopsy mechanism shows that multiple, separate, adequately sized biopsies are possible with this design.