A central issue in healthcare is the difficulty to access specific sites inside the body for diagnosis or intervention with minimal invasiveness and risk to the patient. The ideal solution to this problem would be miniature self-mobile devices which can move to specific sites to capture images, deliver medication, or perform interventional procedures. Advances in miniaturization have produced commercially available, FDA approved, wireless endoscope capsules containing cameras, illumination, electronics, and radio data communications, which can record imagery of the gastrointestinal tract as they pass through by the digestive process, however these cannot as yet be controlled to move actively to specific sites with a given orientation. We propose the development and demonstration of a capsule endoscope with omnidirectional self-propulsion capabilities inside the gastrointestinal tract, using external electromagnetic coils and sensors to generate finely controlled forces and torques on the capsule, and detect its position and orientation. This research will take advantage of our laboratory experience in magnetic levitation with control of translation and rotation of permanent magnet platforms, in any direction and orientation, over large motion ranges in translation and unlimited rotation ranges. Although magnetic actuation for medical applications is a rapidly advancing research topic, existing approaches for endoscope capsule propulsion have severe limitations in manipulability and/or motion range, and typically cannot control position and orientation independently to position and point a miniature camera or to grasp tissue at a desired location. The novel and innovative features of the proposed methods are that translation and rotation can be controlled independently in all directions in force, position, or impedance, force and torque feedback can be provided to a teleoperation console during operation, and no robot arm or other cumbersome hardware is needed other than compact arrays of electromagnetic coils and sensors.
The specific aims of this work are to (1) design and fabricate an electromagnetic endoscope propulsion system to maximize its operation range, capsule maneuverability, and positioning accuracy inside the gastrointestinal tract, (2) formulate and implement capsule propulsion control and navigation methods with a user teleoperation interface, and (3) test and validate the system operation using anatomical models and animal specimens. These proposed capsule endoscope propulsion methods can potentially provide novel diagnostic capabilities in healthcare, such as controlled imaging, biopsy, and other sensing in desired locations and orientations, and interventional therapy such as targeted drug delivery or tissue cutting in otherwise inaccessible anatomy.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed work is to enable capsule endoscopes and other miniature medical devices to be accurately positioned and oriented inside the gastrointestinal tract using non-contact electromagnetic actuation and position sensing. This research will potentially contribute towards many novel technologies in medical diagnosis and intervention inside the body in addition to capsule endoscopy, such as catheter steering, targeted drug delivery, precise implant positioning, and mobile micro-robot motion inside vessels and enclosed volumes, and through tissues, fluids, or open spaces.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
1R03EB018593-01A1
Application #
8824477
Study Section
Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences Study Section (BTSS)
Program Officer
Krosnick, Steven
Project Start
2014-09-30
Project End
2016-07-31
Budget Start
2014-09-30
Budget End
2015-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$70,521
Indirect Cost
$20,521
Name
University of Hawaii
Department
Engineering (All Types)
Type
Schools of Engineering
DUNS #
965088057
City
Honolulu
State
HI
Country
United States
Zip Code
96822