Traditional endoscopy based on flexible endoscopes is reliable and effective, but poorly tolerated by patients; it also requires extended training by physicians. In order to reduce the invasiveness of these procedures, wireless passive capsule endoscopy has been proposed and clinically used during the past decade. A capsule endoscope with an active locomotion mechanism is desirable for carrying out controllable interactive procedures that are normally not possible using passive devices. Due to many difficulties in embedding actuators in swallowable devices, many researchers and companies have adopted an external magnetic field actuation solution. Magnetic resonance modified systems or permanent magnets are used to manoeuvre capsules remotely; however, both these cases present some limitations: magnetic resonance systems are bulky and expensive and permanent magnets are intrinsically unstable to control, and it is impossible to switch them off. Within this framework, the authors present the design and assessment of a magnetic system for endoscopic capsules based on an electromagnetic approach. In particular, the use of a single electromagnet was proposed and investigated: magnetic attraction, locomotion forces and magnetic torques were modelled for guaranteeing the reliable navigation of the capsule and based on these specifications, an electromagnet was designed, developed and experimentally evaluated. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed approach for active locomotion capsule endoscopy.
The gastrointestinal tract is home of some of the most deadly human diseases. The main problems are related to the difficulty of accessing it for diagnosis or intervention and concomitant patient discomfort. The flexible endoscopy technique has established itself in medical practice due to its high diagnostic accuracy and reliability; however, several technical limitations still remain and the procedure is poorly tolerated by patients. The use of magnetic fields to control and steer endoscopic capsules is increasing in minimally invasive procedures. In fact, magnetic coupling is one of the few physical phenomena capable of transmitting motion beyond a physical barrier, allowing for the compact design of the device itself. In this framework, the authors present the preliminary design and assessment of a magnetic coupling for magnetic endoscopic capsules considering an electromagnetic approach. In particular, a novel toroidal electromagnet is proposed as the control and driving system. The system concept, design, and preliminary results are reported.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40846-015-0055-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
In this paper, a vision-based haptic feedback system has been proposed with the aim to assist the movement of an endoscopic device during capsule endoscopy (CE) procedures. We present a general system architecture consisting of three modules responsible for vision, haptic guidance and control of movements. The vision module generates 3D local maps as well as local navigation trajectory for endoluminal navigation. The haptic guidance module consists of a haptic device that allows the user to control the movement of the capsule along the generated path. The haptics module also helps the operator by transforming the 3D maps and the relative paths into a guiding virtual force. Measuring the current relative distance between the user input and the maps boundaries, the haptic guidance module will check if the user is moving away or toward the colonic walls and will generate a feedback force with the aim to assist the operator during the navigation procedure. The user will also sense an attractive virtual feedback force toward the generated path that will help the user in the navigation. Finally, the movement control module is the interface between the haptics module and the chosen manipulator. The final goal is to develop a complete active CE robotic platform with haptic feedback in order to enhance safety, to reduce cost (using the same system as a training simulator as well as real endoscopic platform) and to help the operator during the navigation by combining all 3D local maps into a full 3D reconstructed colon
In the last century, medicine showed considerable advancements in terms of new technologies, devices and diagnostic/therapeutic strategies. Those advantages led to a significant reduction of invasiveness and an improvement of surgical outcomes. In this framework, a computer-assisted surgical robotic platform able to perform non-invasive Focused Ultrasound Surgery (FUS) - the FUTURA platform - has the ambitious goal to improve accuracy, safety and flexibility of the treatment, with respect to current FUS procedures. Aim of this work is to present the current implementation of the robotic platform and the preliminary results about high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) delivery in in-vitro conditions, under 3D ultrasound identification and monitoring. Tests demonstrated that the average accuracy of the HIFU delivery is lower than 0.7 mm in both X and Y radial directions and 3.7 mm in the axial direction (Z) with respect to the HIFU transducer active surface.
Our results encourage the development of US-based tracking algorithms for endoluminal devices in cardiovascular surgery, paving the way to a robust three-dimensional (3D) imaging US-based tracking strategy implementation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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