The Comparison of The Biopsy Needles Efficiency

Nowadays, the renal biopsy needles which used in Thailand have been imported from aboard. They are variety of brands, qualities and wide ranges of prices. Among the needles which are available in market, the biggest problem is renal needle effectiveness which affects to the volume of kidney for pathologic investigation. However, the use of biopsy needles depends on the satisfication of users which never been quantitatively identified. In this work, we performed the experiment to investigate the efficiency of biopsy needles, which focused on the Automatic and Disposable type from 5 brands (No.1 to No. 5). The tests were evaluated by 2 experiments; 1. The test of spring's compressions with different compressive distances (10 mm., 15 mm. and 20 mm., respectively) and 2. The test of kidney volume was performed by punching the biopsy needle in porcine kidney with different angles of 15°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 75°, respectively. From the results of the spring's compression, the needle No. 3, 5, 2, 1 and 4, respectively consumed the minimum to maximum forces in both parts of needle (cutter part and puncher part) at the maximum distance of 20 mm. The results from renal tissue volume test exhibited that at angle of 30° and 60° had constant volume of kidney, approximately 10 mm³, in each biopsy which is enough for volumic and pathologic conditions for pathology examination. In conclusion, results from the tests show that the 5 brands of biopsy needles have different technical design which affect to their effectiveness. However, they are still having the same general characteristic such as size and dimension which reported in the industrial standards.