Microbiopsy device

1. A microbiopsy device for taking biological samples, comprising:

a body including two or more opposed, spaced cutting elements for cutting tissue to form a biological sample, wherein the cutting elements are arranged to cut a section of tissue having a width of less than 1 mm; and

an isolated chamber inside the body for receiving and retaining the biological sample, the isolated chamber having (a) an opening between the cutting elements for receiving the biological sample; (b) a closed end; and (c) one or more walls such that a retained biological sample is enclosed within the chamber except in the direction of opening between the cutting elements.

2. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the two or more opposed cutting elements together define at least one cutting edge.

3. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the two or more opposed cutting elements are arranged to cut a section of tissue having a width of 50-750 microns.

4. The microbiopsy device of claim 3 , wherein the two or more opposed cutting elements are arranged to cut a section of tissue having a width of 100-200 microns.

5. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the section of tissue is noncircular.

6. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , comprising an assembly of at least two plates, wherein each cutting element is defined by a respective tapered section of one of said plates.

7. The microbiopsy device of claim 6 , wherein the chamber is defined by one or more recesses in the plates.

8. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the chamber is configured to retain the biological sample therein by friction.

9. The microbiopsy device of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the one or more walls has a surface roughness (R A ) of between 1 micron and 25 microns.

10. The microbiopsy device of claim 9 , wherein a ratio of the surface roughness to a distance between at least two of the two or more opposed, spaced cutting elements is less than about 0.1.

11. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , further including retaining elements to retain the biological sample therein.

12. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the chamber has a non-circular cross section.

13. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the biological sample is of tissue or blood.

14. The microbiopsy device of claim 13 , wherein the biological sample is of skin tissue.

15. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , comprising an insert for a punch biopsy applicator.

16. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , wherein the chamber has a width of 0.2 mm or less.

17. The microbiopsy device of claim 1 , comprising at least four cutting elements.

18. The microbiopsy device of claim 17 , comprising an assembly of at least three plates, each providing at least one cutting element, wherein at least one plate is an inner plate.

19. A method for making a microbiopsy device including the steps of:

providing at least two plates, each plate including a tapered section defining one or more respective cutting elements and at least one of the plates including a recess therein; and

forming an assembly of the plates such that:

the cutting elements are opposed and spaced from each other and together define a cutting end of the device for cutting tissue to form a biological sample, wherein the cutting elements are arranged to cut a section of tissue having a width of less than 1 mm; and

the one or more recesses of the plates define an isolated chamber or receiving and retaining the biological sample having (a) an opening between the cutting elements; (b) a closed end; and (c) one or more walls such that a retained biological sample is enclosed within the chamber except in the direction of the opening between the cutting elements.

20. The method of claim 19 , further including the step of forming the plates from a blank including panels corresponding to the plates.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the step of forming the plates comprises folding the blank between the panels.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the step of forming the plates comprises cutting the blank between the panels.

23. A blank for assembly into a microbiopsy device the blank including two or more panels, each panel having at least one tapered section and at least one of the panels having a recess, wherein upon assembly:

the tapered sections of the panels form at least two opposed, spaced cutting elements for cutting tissue to form biological sample, wherein the cutting elements are arranged to cut a section of tissue having a width of less than 1 mm; and

the recess or recesses of the panels define an isolated chamber or receiving and retaining the biological sample having (a) an opening between the cutting elements; (b) a closed end; and (c) one or more walls such that a retained biological sample is enclosed within the chamber except in the direction of the opening between the cutting elements.

24. The blank of claim 23 , wherein the blank comprises stainless steel.

25. A method for taking a biological sample from tissue, including the step of:

(i) applying a microbiopsy device to the tissue to cut the tissue, the microbiopsy device comprising: a body including two or more opposed, spaced cutting elements for cutting the tissue to form the biological sample, wherein the cutting elements are arranged to cut a section of tissue having a width of less than 1 mm; and an isolated chamber inside the body for receiving and retaining the biological sample, the chamber having (a) an opening between the cutting elements; (b) a closed end; and (c) one or more walls such that a retained biological sample is enclosed within the chamber except in the direction of the opening between the cutting elements; and

(ii) retaining the biological sample in the chamber of the microbiopsy device.