Abstract
Capsule endoscopes (CEs) have emerged as an advanced diagnostic technology for gastrointestinal diseases in recent decades. However, with regard to robotic motions, they require active movability and multi-functionalities for extensive, untethered, and precise clinical utilization. Herein, we present a novel wireless biopsy CE employing active five degree-of-freedom locomotion and a biopsy needle punching mechanism for the histological analysis of the intestinal tract. A medical biopsy punch is attached to a screw mechanism, which can be magnetically actuated to extrude and retract the biopsy tool, for tissue extraction. The external magnetic field from an electromagnetic actuation (EMA) system is utilized to actuate the screw mechanism and harvest biopsy tissue; therefore, the proposed system consumes no onboard energy of the CE. This design enables observation of the biopsy process through the capsule’s camera. A prototype with a diameter of 12 mm and length of 30 mm was fabricated with a medical biopsy punch having a diameter of 1.5 mm. Its performance was verified through numerical analysis, as well as in-vitro and ex-vivo experiments on porcine intestine. The CE could be moved to target lesions and obtain sufficient tissue samples for histological examination. The proposed biopsy CE mechanism utilizing punch biopsy and its wireless extraction–retraction technique can advance untethered intestinal endoscopic capsule technology at clinical sites.
Highlights
As an emerging alternative to traditional endoscopy, M2A, the first commercial capsule endoscope (CE) was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration in 2001 [1]
The biopsy CE prototype and tested objects were placed in the ROI of the 9EoMf 1A6 system
In this paper we have presented a novel retractable needle punching biopsy methodology integrated with an active CE (ACE) that could perform robotic movement for the histological analysis of intestinal diseases
Summary
As an emerging alternative to traditional endoscopy, M2A, the first commercial capsule endoscope (CE) was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration in 2001 [1]. Endoscopic capsules have gained momentum in the medical-device market because they are more effective than traditional techniques for the diagnosis of small-intestine disorders [2,6]. Commercialized endoscopic capsules have several limitations, including passive locomotion due to peristalsis motions, the inability to perform targeted diagnosis, the long diagnosis time, and the single visualization modality only [6]. To overcome these limitations of conventional endoscopic capsules, the magnetic actuation approach has been employed to achieve active locomotion, resulting in an active CE (ACE) [8,9]. By virtue of the active locomotion ability, the development of the multi-functionality of the ACE has been accelerated for both diagnosis and therapeutics involving digestive organs
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