Fabrication of piezoelectric cantilever with microcone tip for sensing local stiffness of biological tissue

For diseases that are difficult to detect by conventional imaging techniques, the development of a diagnostic method that allows sensors to be inserted into the human body to aid the diagnosis of local spots of the target tissue, is highly desirable. In particular, it is extremely difficult to determine whether vulnerable plaque can later develop into atherosclerosis using only imaging techniques. However, vulnerable plaques are expected to have slightly different mechanical properties than healthy tissue. In this study, we aim to develop a piezoelectric cantilever-type sensor that can be inserted into the human body and can detect the local mechanical properties of the target tissue. A piezoelectric polymer composite based on BaTiO₃ nanoparticles was optimized for fabrication of a piezoelectric cantilever. Next, a micro-cone tip was fabricated at the end of the piezoelectric cantilever by thermal drawing. Finally, stiffness of biological tissue samples was measured with the piezoelectric cantilever sensor for verifying its functionality.