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Global Translational Medicine Rapid diagnostic imaging on biopsy needle

Figure 1. Standard histopathological workflow for biopsy processing. The multi-step procedure includes tissue extraction, formalin fixation, paraffin
embedding, sectioning, staining, and pathologist evaluation.

follow-up care. As a result, a significant portion of Corp., USA) and fabricated with a three-dimensional (3D)
individuals undergoing CNB never receive a definitive fused filament fabrication (FFF) printer (Prusa Research
diagnosis after biopsy, further hindering effective BC a.s., Czech Republic). The CoreView fixture consists of
management. One way to mitigate the indirect cost a frame made from structured carbon polycarbonate
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barriers is to introduce lower-cost portable laboratory plates attached to a custom microscope holder. This
equipment into rural areas and rural healthcare clinics. initial prototype utilized CNB preparation on the needle,
The Human Photonics Laboratory at the University of employing only drops of fluorescence dye and hand-rinsed
Washington (UW) has aimed to create a low-cost, portable saline. Furthermore, future prototypes can integrate CNB
device that requires minimal electrical needs and training staining and rinsing in an automated process (Video S2).
to operate, allowing for rapid, point-of-care diagnosis The biopsy is acquired using 14–18-gauge needle biopsy
during a patient’s first visit in LMICs and other low-resource guns and then stained with Rhodamine B and Hoechst.
areas. The CoreView ION is designed as a cost-effective, Following staining, the needle biopsy gun is loaded onto a
accessible imaging solution that produces diagnostic- 3D-printed holder. A hand crank is turned to position the
quality results while minimizing the need for specialized specimen against the surface of the fixed, UV-transparent
training (Video S1). To overcome the challenges associated window, which is preset to be the focal plane of the
with traditional CNB histopathology, the CoreView ION objective lens.
implements manual low-cost components to simplify
operation and maintenance, as well as training protocols. The CoreView ION prototype is equipped with Nikon
By significantly reducing diagnostic turnaround time, this 4× and 10× objective lens imaging under UV low-powered
approach has the potential to improve patient outcomes light-emitting diode (LED) illumination, with multi-axis
and decrease the number of women in underserved regions movement control for both needle biopsy and biopsy
who remain undiagnosed due to a multitude of barriers compression. The imaging workflow involved staining
stacked against them. tissue with Rhodamine B (counterstain, 10 mg/mL)
and Hoechst fluorescence dye solutions (Hoechst 33342
2. Materials and methods nuclear stain, 5 mg/mL), loading the CNB onto the
microscope stage, compressing the biopsy surface against
2.1. Design and fabrication of the prototype of a clear quartz coverslip window, and capturing images
CoreView ION within 5 min using microscopy with ultraviolet surface
To facilitate imaging of CNBs while still on the needle, excitation (MUSE) technology. Video S2 illustrates the
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a prototype fixture was designed, iterated, and tested on fully automated CoreView ION system, showcasing each
animal tissues (Figure 2). Prototype components were integrated component of the final prototype for clear
modeled using SolidWorks (Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks visualization.

Volume 4 Issue 3 (2025) 108 doi: 10.36922/GTM025170039