Legged locomotion in the gastrointestinal tract

This paper illustrates the analysis of locomotion in the gastrointestinal tract obtainable by a legged capsule for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. A preliminary simulation of the legged locomotion onto slippery and deformable substrates has been performed and -simultaneously - mechanisms for on board actuation of the legs have been developed and tested. Moreover, an engineering translation of medical needs in endoscopy is presented, with some ad hoc solutions for improving diagnostic capabilities.

[1]  D. Accoto,et al.  MEASUREMENTS OF THE FRICTIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT , 2001 .

[2]  G. Meron.  The development of the swallowable video capsule (M2A). , 2000, Gastrointestinal endoscopy.

[3]  B L Davies,et al.  Locomotion and steering aspects in automation of colonoscopy. Part one.A literature review. , 1997, IEEE engineering in medicine and biology magazine : the quarterly magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society.

[4]  P. Swain,et al.  Wireless capsule endoscopy. , 2002, The Israel Medical Association journal : IMAJ.

[5]  Paolo Dario,et al.  Modeling and Experimental Validation of the Locomotion of Endoscopic Robots in the Colon , 2004, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[6]  J. Nagumo.  Echo capsule for medical use;a battery-less endoradiosonde. , 1962 .

[7]  Paolo Dario,et al.  Analysis and development of locomotion devices for the gastrointestinal tract , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[8]  P Dario,et al.  Development and in vitro testing of a miniature robotic system for computer-assisted colonoscopy. , 1999, Computer aided surgery : official journal of the International Society for Computer Aided Surgery.

[9]  Paolo Dario,et al.  Modeling and Experiments on a Legged Microrobot Locomoting in a Tubular, Compliant and Slippery Environment , 2006 .

[10]  Koji Ikuta,et al.  Shape memory alloy servo actuator system with electric resistance feedback and application for active endoscope , 1988, Proceedings. 1988 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[11]  Toshio Fukuda,et al.  Rubber gas actuator driven by hydrogen storage alloy for in-pipe inspection mobile robot with flexible structure , 1989, Proceedings, 1989 International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[12]  Frederik Nebeker.  Golden accomplishments in biomedical engineering. , 2002, IEEE engineering in medicine and biology magazine : the quarterly magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society.