Development of a Self-Propelled Actively Bendable Colonoscope Robot with a "Party Horn" Propulsion Mechanism

Abstract

Drawbacks of conventional colonoscopy include the risk of accidental injury and a dependence on the operator's skill. This study presents a novel minimally invasive self-propelled colonoscope robot. We developed an active-bending module, made with pneumatic parallel links with three degrees of freedom, and assembled in a robot (WQE-5) propelled by a "party horn" mechanism with a thrust generator. We confirm the increase in the passing speed in the curved section of a colon model, achieved by the winding of WQE-5.

Soft Coiled Pneumatic Actuator with Integrated Length-Sensing Function for Feedback Control

“…Though the name in English is somewhat ambiguous, other languages have more unique monikers (German-rollpfeife, luftrüssel; Spanish-espantasuegras; Italian-lingua di Menelik; Japanese-fukimodoshi) some of which date back more than a century to the popularity of the horn in carnival celebrations. Despite the ubiquity of the mechanism in popular culture, with little exception [13], it has been largely ignored by the robotics community.…”