Abstract
This paper studies the modelling of capsule–intestine contact through experimental and numerical investigation for designing a self-propelled capsule robot moving inside the small intestine for endoscopic diagnosis. Due to the natural peristalsis of the intestinal tract, capsule–intestine contact is multimodal causing intermittent high transit speed for the capsule, which leads to incomplete visualisation of the intestinal surface. Three typical conditions, partial and full contacts, between the small intestine and the capsule, are considered in this work. Extensive experimental testing and finite element analysis are conducted to compare the contact pressure on the capsule. Our analytical, experimental and numerical results show a good agreement. The investigation using a synthetic small intestine shows that the contact pressure could vary from 0.5 to 16 kPa according to different contact conditions, i.e. expanding or contracting due to the peristalsis of the small intestine. Therefore, a proper control method or a robust stabilising mechanism, which can accommodate such a high pressure difference, will be crucial for designing the robot.
Highlights
Capsule endoscopy has been widely used in clinical practice for diagnosing gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, including obscure GI bleeding, Crohn’s disease, coeliac disease, angiodysplasia, tumours and polyposis syndromes [1,2,3]
Capsule endoscopy has been considered as the gold standard for diagnosing disease in the small bowel [2], which was historically difficult to examine due to its small diameter and lengthy size
The contact pressure of the capsule robot when moving through a small intestine was investigated analytically, experimentally and numerically
Summary
Capsule endoscopy has been widely used in clinical practice for diagnosing gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, including obscure GI bleeding, Crohn’s disease, coeliac disease, angiodysplasia, tumours and polyposis syndromes [1,2,3]. It uses a swallowable capsule equipped with a miniature camera to screen the lining of the GI tract, visualising suspected lesions to clinicians. E.g. colonoscopy and gastroscopy, capsule endoscopy provides a safe, minimally invasive, sedation-free, patient-friendly and accurate diagnostic modality It is still an immature technique [4,5] due to the following flaws: (i) The capsule endoscope is passively propelled by GI peristalsis. Dimensions of the capsule prototype used in this study are presented in Fig. 1b, where the capsule is 26 mm in length and 11 mm in diameter
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