Nickel Micro‐spike for Micro‐scale Biopsy using LiGA Process

In this paper, biopsy tools are developed for minimally invasive tissue sampling using the LiGA (Lithographie Galvanoformung Abformung) process. The micro‐spike is composed of two barbed‐shanks and a body. The shank of the micro‐spike is between 2 mm ∼ 3 mm and the opening gap is approximately 350 μm between the shanks. The micro‐spike is integrated with the conventional catheter, for medical diagnostics. Tissue samples were extracted from the anesthetized pigs using biopsy catheters in vivo, and observed with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The amount of extracted sample is sufficient to diagnose abnormal cells.