Micromachines in endoscopy

Abstract

Conventional endoscopy has reached a plateau in technical development, necessitating the exploration of bold new ideas in order to make further advances. One such idea is a self-navigating, independent, intelligent colonoscopic micro-robot. The design of a vehicle that can negotiate the difficult and hostile terrain of the colon is a complex task. Options include wheeled or tracked vehicles and pneumatically driven devices. The development of navigation and lesion recognition software to drive such a vehicle is also challenging. The various mathematical concepts involved in the development of such software are explored in this article.