Design of Intestine Inspection Device

Abstract

Colonoscopy is a widely used endoscopic procedure to diagnose colorectal cancer (CRC) which is considered the fourth most common cancer in the US and the second most common cancer in Europe. Colonoscope, used in colonoscopy, consists of a thin flexible hollow tube that is inserted into the rectum of a person and propagated through the entire colon. The disadvantage of the current procedure is that the colonoscope has to be pushed from outside to move through the colon resulting in recurrent looping of the colonoscope due to buckling. Recurrent looping inflicts the risk of tissue damage and is responsible for approximately 90% of the pain experienced by patients during colonoscopy. Research was carried out to create self-propelling colonoscopes which would eliminate the force required to push the device from outside. Inspirations were taken from the locomotion of earthworms to develop self-propelling colonoscopes however, the device’s propulsion was hindered due to friction and low axial stiffness of the colon wall. In this study, a proof of concept for a self-propelled colonoscopic device inspired by the ovipositor of wasps was conducted which resulted in the development of a prototype. The prototype was tested in a colon-simulated environment and it was able to successfully propel through the prepared colon phantom after an initial manual run through the colon phantom. The requirement of an initial manual run was speculated to be due to the capillary adhesion and uneven oil spread in the colon phantom. The device had an average velocity of around 5.68 mm /s inside the colon phantom with an average efficiency of 72.5%. In the future, the prototype has to be tested in an actual colon to assess its functionality and evaluate the propulsion efficiency of the prototype in a real colon.