| abstract |
A biopsy device, comprising a flexible coaxial structure, comprising an obturator within a sheath, the obturator being adapted to be displaced with respect to the sheath along the coaxial axis by a force applied at a proximal end; a disruptor, at a distal end of the obturator, adapted to disrupt a tissue surface to free cells therefrom, having a first position covered within the sheath and a second position freely extending beyond the sheath; an element, having a fixed position on the obturator, and a close clearance with respect to an inner surface of the sheath, such that a retraction of the obturator within the sheath causes an associated change in pressure in a space between the obturator distal to the element and the sheath, to thereby draw fluid proximate to an end of the sheath within the sheath. |