A robotic endoscope based on minimally invasive locomotion and wireless techniques for human colon

BACKGROUND: Traditional endoscopy may cause tissue trauma and discomfort to patients because of the use of relatively long and semi-rigid scopes. METHODS: A wireless robotic endoscope has been designed based on minimally invasive locomotion and wireless techniques for energy, monitoring, and telecontrol. RESULTS: The robotic endoscope can move forward or backward effectively in a smooth synthetic glass tube. The increase of the tube dip angle reduces the relative speed. The robot moves with lower efficiency because of the viscoelasticity of intestinal tissue in in vitro pig colon. The wireless power system can continuously and stably provide a minimum 378 mW energy, which exceeds the maximum system consumption. The video system realizes wireless image transmission at 30 frames per second. Doctors control the robot remotely using a communication frequency of 433 MHz. CONCLUSIONS: The prototype robot shows the possibility of clinical application, but needs further improvement and testing.