Researchers have patented a new skin biopsy tool that uses fewer instruments and promises to shorten the time it takes to diagnose diseases such as skin cancer.

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With the new device, the examining doctor can take a skin biopsy with a simple click.
Image credit: UC3M

Currently, to take a skin biopsy – a tissue sample that is sent to the lab for analysis – a trained clinician cuts the base layer of skin, removes it with forceps and sews up the wound. The procedure is performed under local anesthetic and takes around 30 minutes.

Now, with the new “automated skin biopsy device,” the examining doctor can take a quick skin biopsy with a simple “click” without the need for anesthesia or specialized cutting and sewing. The whole procedure takes under 5 minutes.

The new device is the invention of a team from the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) and the Institute Ramón y Cajal for Health Research (IRYCIS), also in Madrid, Spain. The two institutes have applied for Spanish and international patents for the device.

One of the inventors, Dr. Jesús Meneses, from the department of mechanical engineering at UC3M, describes the new biopsy device as an ergonomic tool that is “compact and easy to use,” making it possible to obtain a skin sample using just a single instrument.

He says the biopsy tool makes the incision and removes the tissue sample automatically and complies with all the sanitation standards established by IRYCIS.

Dr. Emiliano Grillo, a dermatologist at Ramón y Cajal Hospital and a clinical research associate at the IRYCIS, says not only will the device help detect skin cancer and other diseases in a shorter time, it should also allow doctors to see more patients.

Dr. Grillo says he can see the potential benefits of such a device “in a doctor’s office overwhelmed by patient demand, such as a dermatology clinic.”

He says the new device will “make it possible for the patient to leave the doctor’s office with the diagnostic tests already done, and to begin earlier treatment if necessary.”

The device is still at the prototype stage but is ready to perform demonstrations.

The next step for the developers is to find ways to make the tool more widely known and find medical equipment manufacturers to develop the product under license.

Advances in detecting other types of cancer are also making news. For example, Medical News Today recently reported how researchers at University College London in the UK demonstrated a new ovarian cancer screening method that can detect twice as many women with the disease as conventional strategies.

In the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the team shows how their new method uses changes in blood levels of the ovarian cancer protein CA125 to predict cancer risk.