A biopsy is a type of diagnostic medical test, which consists of extracting sample tissue for examination to determine the presence, cause, or extent of a disease. Most commonly, biopsies are used to investigate cancerous or inflammatory conditions. For context of this design study, breast biopsies were chosen as an area of interest. Rather than excisional biopsies, core biopsies are a common procedure in breast biopsies due to their lower invasiveness.
The downside of current core biopsy devices are their limited biopsy volume and a higher chance of false negatives when compared to excisional biopsies. The goal of this design study is to increase the biopsy volume while lowering the number of needle insertions and to decrease the chance of a false negative result by designing, prototyping and testing a core biopsy needle that is able to take and store multiple biopsies within a single needle.