A micromachined biopsy tool for a capsule type endoscope

In this paper, a nickel electroplating process has been developed for the micromachined biopsy tool useful for the capsule type endoscope. Long shaft and sharp tip biopsy tool is easily fabricated using thick PR (SU8) mold by one mask lithography process. These micro scale biopsy tools are readily integrated with conventional forceps system or capsule type endoscope. The characteristics of various biopsy tool design features including tip taper angle, tool geometries, and cutting knife number were studied for the tissue extraction from an mice intestine. The fabricated biopsy tools had proper strength and sharpness for tissue extraction and the tools extracted sufficient amount of tissues for a clinical test.