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. 2022 Apr 17;13(4):635.
doi: 10.3390/mi13040635.

A Novel Inchworm-Inspired Soft Robotic Colonoscope Based on a Rubber Bellows

Jinyan Chen  1 , Jianlin Yang  1 , Feng Qian  1 , Qing Lu  1 , Yu Guo  2 , Zhijun Sun  1 , Chao Chen  1
Affiliations

A Novel Inchworm-Inspired Soft Robotic Colonoscope Based on a Rubber Bellows

Jinyan Chen et al. Micromachines (Basel). .

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is a serious threat to human health. Colonoscopy is the most effective procedure for the inspection of colorectal cancer. However, traditional colonoscopy may cause pain, which can lead to the patient's fear of colonoscopy. The use of active-motion colonoscopy robots is expected to replace traditional colonoscopy procedures for colorectal cancer screening, without causing pain to patients. This paper proposes an inchworm-like soft colonoscopy robot based on a rubber spring. The motion mechanism of the robot consists of two anchoring units and an elongation unit. The elongation unit of the robot is driven by 3 cables during contraction and by its inherent elasticity during extension. The balloon is selected as the anchoring mechanism of the robot. It has soft contact with the colon and will not damage the colon wall, which means no discomfort is caused. The elastic force test of the rubber spring shows that the elongation unit of the robot has sufficient restorative force to drive the robot to move forward and backward. The influence of the balloon's expansion size on the dexterity of the robot head is analyzed, and the functions of the balloons are expounded. The balloon can not only assist the robot in its locomotion but also assist the robot to perform a better inspection. The robot can move successfully in a horizontal, straight, and inclined isolated pig colon, showing great clinical application potential.

Keywords: colonoscopy; inchworm inspired; soft robot.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Initial state. (b–g) Locomotion cycle sequences of the robot.
Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) CAD drawing of the robot. (b) Prototype of the robot.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic diagram of robot head flexibility analysis. (a) Both balloons are anchored and the robot is straight. (b) Both balloons are anchored and the robot is in the bending limit state. (c) Single balloon is anchored and the robot is at the bending limit state. (d) Both balloons are not anchored and the robot is in the bending limit state.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relationship between robot head dexterity and colon diameter for four cases, regardless of whether the two balloons are inflated or not.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Bending, elongation, and contraction state diagram of the robot.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a) Schematic diagram of rubber spring elasticity test. (b) Relationship between elastic force and compression ratio of the rubber spring.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Locomotion of robot in the horizontal straight colon. The robot moves form (a) to (b) and then to (c).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Movement of robot in the inclined pig colon.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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