Development of an External Electromagnetic Actuation System to Enable Unrestrained Maneuverability for an Endoscopic Capsule

For digestive organs diagnosis, wireless capsule endoscope was developed as innovative solutions into overcoming limitations of conventional flexible endoscope such as uncomfortable procedures, pains and side effects of anaesthetic drug. Several actuation mechanisms have been studied to realize the wireless capsule endoscope with active locomotion, various motions of the capsule endoscope could not be achieved because of insufficient degree of freedom and forces. This paper presents a novel Electromagnetic Actuation (EMA) system which can maneuver endoscopic capsule unrestrainedly. The magnetic force can be controlled independently to push capsule moving without changing its orientation. The proposed system composed of eight stationary electromagnets controlled separately for producing dynamic magnetic field and gradient field in region-of-interest (ROI). The generated magnetic field and gradient field of proposed system is higher than that of our previous system. The proposed unrestrained motions are demonstrated through feasibility test.