Study conducted by Dr Prow T (UQ DRC) and Lin L (UQ DRC) in collaboration with Professor H. Peter Soyer (UQ DRC).

Our group has developed a sub-millimetre skin punch biopsy device for minimally invasive and suture-free skin sampling for molecular diagnosis and research. Conventional skin punch biopsies range from 2-4 mm in diameter. Local anaesthesia is required and sutures are usually used to close the wound. Our microbiopsy is 0.50 mm wide and 0.20 mm thick. The design parameters of the device were optimised for molecular analysis using sampled DNA mass as the primary end point in volunteer studies. The optimised device extracted 5.9 ± 3.4 ng DNA and 9.0 ± 10.1 ng RNA. We foresee that minimally invasive molecular sampling will play an increasingly significant role in diagnostic dermatology and skin research.

 Lin L, Prow TW, Raphael AP, Harold III RL, Primiero CA, Ansaldo AB, Soyer HP. Microbiopsy engineered for minimally invasive and suture-free sub-millimeter skin sampling. F1000Research. 2013;2(120).

http://f1000r.es/1h7

 Prow TW, Lin LL, Soyer HP. The opportunity for microbiopsies for skin cancer. Future Oncol. 2013;9(9):1241-1243.

 http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/abs/10.2217/fon.13.88

 Banan P, Lin LL, Lambie D, Prow TW, Soyer HP. Effects of ex-vivo skin microbiopsy on histopathological diagnosis in melanocytic skin lesions. JAMA Dermatol. 2013;149(9):1107-1109.

http://archderm.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1714661