The invention concerns a device for the laparoscopic removal of a superficial cylindrical sample of a human or animal body tissue, comprising:&mdash；a tube (1) whose inner diameter determines the diameter of the sample to be removed, and having a cutting edge (12) at its distal end (10),&mdash；a grip handle (2), fixed to the tube (1) in the region of a proximal end (11) of said tube(1),&mdash；a knife (3) arranged inside the tube (1) and having a cutting edge (31),&mdash；a device to actuate the knife (3), comprising an actuating element (22, 41) connected to the grip handle (2) in such a way as to give the knife (3) a helical movement in the direction of a distal end of the tube (1), followed by a rotational movement to detach the sample from the tissue.
