Design and Development of the Optic Fiber Pulling Facility for the Development of the Imaging Probe for the Mosquito Bite Needle Endoscope

<p dir="ltr">The gold standard for breast cancer diagnostics is needle biopsy. This procedure is invasive, expensive, and causes pain and bleeding. It is often repeated due to inconclusive results, giving patients emotional distress. To improve patient experience, a 34-gauge needle endoscope is proposed for the direct real-time differentiation between cancerous and normal tissue. This endoscope, termed the Mosquito Bite Needle Endoscope (MBNE), with an acupuncture-sized needle, has the benefit of being minimally painful and having little to no blood loss. As needle biopsy is unavoidable according to contemporary clinical protocols, MBNE may help to find the most “suspicious” areas, making the MBNE guide the needle to cancerous tissue to improve diagnostic accuracy. As an imaging probe required for the MBNE with an inner diameter of less than 90 microns is not commercially available, the Optic Fiber Pulling Facility (OPF) has been developed to produce an imaging probe for the MBNE. The ability of the OPF is evaluated, and the limiting cross-sectional design of the imaging probe is determined. Using Fujikura’s FIGH-016-160S, which is originally a 160-micron imaging fiber, an 86.6µm diameter imaging probe, although resulting in reduced resolution and contrast, has been successfully developed by means of the OPF and optically tested, opening the prospect for clinical implementation of the MBNE.</p>