Magnetic control bistable soft capsule robot and driving method thereof

Abstract

The invention belongs to the field of magnetic control capsule robots, and particularly discloses a magnetic control bistable soft capsule robot and a driving method thereof, and the capsule robot comprises a first assembly and a capsule shell; a substance exchange channel is arranged on the capsule shell; the first assembly is arranged in the capsule shell; the first assembly comprises a bistable hemispherical shell and a first magnetic garment which are both of a magnetic soft body structure. The bistable hemispherical shell comprises a first stable state configuration and a second stable state configuration, and elastic potential energy is stored in the first stable state configuration; the steady-state configuration conversion direction of the hemispherical shell is perpendicular to the length direction of the capsule shell; when the hemispherical shell is in the first steady state configuration, the first magnetic garment is arranged on the top end side of the hemispherical shell, and the opening side of the hemispherical shell serves as a carrying cavity; the magnetization direction of the bistable hemispherical shell in the first steady state configuration is diverged towards the periphery with the center of the bottom of the opening side as the center, and the magnetization direction of the first magnetic clothes is the same as the protruding direction of the hemispherical shell. By means of the capsule robot, it is guaranteed that the medical function of the capsule robot is stably achieved in the complex gastrointestinal tract environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of magnetically controlled capsule robots, and more specifically, to a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot and a driving method thereof. Background Art

[0002] The cure rate and survival rate of gastrointestinal diseases decrease significantly with the extension of the onset time. Regular screening, early diagnosis and early treatment are recognized as the most effective means to reduce the incidence of cancer. However, the existing methods have obvious limitations and urgently need innovation and breakthroughs: cable endoscopes are the current mainstream diagnostic and treatment methods, which have diagnostic and treatment functions such as image diagnosis, sampling and drug administration, but the intubation diagnosis and treatment mode will cause strong discomfort, and there are contraindications and problems such as small intestinal blind spots; capsule endoscopes (capsule robots) have unique advantages such as non-contact, non-invasive and painless, but the existing technology is limited to image diagnosis and cannot achieve diagnostic and treatment functions such as targeted drug administration and sampling.

[0003] The magnetically controlled capsule robot technology regulates the movement mode and morphology of the capsule in the body through the interaction between the external driving magnetic field and the magnetic components inside the capsule, providing an important way to achieve painless and non-invasive "diagnosis" and "treatment" of gastrointestinal diseases. This technology has unique advantages due to the following two typical characteristics: 1) No endogenous drive feature. Under this feature, the magnetically controlled capsule robot technology does not need to rely on internal power supply and control circuit, which greatly simplifies the design of the capsule robot, helps to reduce its overall size, and reduces the risks that may be caused when medical devices are used in the body. 2) Non-contact active control feature. The strong penetration of the magnetic field in the human body gives the magnetically controlled capsule robot the ability to be remotely non-contact driven, and the diversity and controllability of the magnetic field's spatiotemporal distribution pattern greatly enhance its ability to actively control and regulate morphology, thereby expanding the possibility of more medical functions.

[0004] In this context, magnetically controlled capsule robot technology has attracted widespread attention from academia and industry. The most typical application case is the development and commercialization of magnetically controlled capsule endoscopes, which have been incorporated into gastric cancer screening and early diagnosis and treatment programs, providing strong confidence for the development and biomedical applications of magnetically controlled capsule robots. However, as mentioned above, existing magnetically controlled capsule endoscopes still face the dilemma of "only being able to diagnose but not treat". Therefore, in the past decade, promoting the development and application of magnetically controlled capsule robot technology has become the focus of many domestic and foreign research teams, who have conducted a series of studies on the structural design, driving strategy and application of magnetically controlled capsule robots in the biomedical field.

[0005] Soft robots developed in recent years are robots whose main bodies or main functional structures are made of soft materials. They have the characteristics of high degrees of freedom, strong deformation ability and strong adaptability. They have significant technical advantages over traditional rigid robots in human-computer interaction and unstructured environments. Among them, magnetically controlled soft robots based on hard magnetic soft composite materials and magnetic torque control have unique advantages such as non-contact, strong controllability and good penetration performance. They have become the current research focus and mainstream development direction in the field of soft robots, and have shown great application potential in the field of biomedical applications. Different from the built-in rigid permanent magnet magnetization mode of traditional magnetically controlled robots, the application of hard magnetic soft materials simultaneously gives the robot high magnetic response characteristics and multi-degree-of-freedom deformation ability, greatly improving the robot's morphological control potential, and combining motion and large deformation modes, providing the possibility of innovating the diagnosis and treatment methods of many major diseases.

[0006] However, the current magnetically controlled soft robot technology mainly relies on the deformation principle of the competition between the external magnetic torque and the internal elastic force, which makes it difficult to achieve large deformation under low magnetic fields, and the shape maintenance requires continuous magnetic field loading. These limitations restrict the application of this technology in the field of capsule robots, especially for large animal experiments and human clinical experiments, which will face problems such as insufficient output force and high energy consumption, bringing great challenges to the development of electromagnetic drive systems, and also limiting the improvement of the function and regulation ability of capsule robots in complex gastrointestinal environments. It is easy to have gastrointestinal wrinkles, peristalsis and food residues, which lead to the inability to release drugs and sampling. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of the defects of the prior art, the purpose of this application is to provide a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot and its driving method, aiming to solve the problems faced by existing capsule robots in application, such as insufficient output force and high energy consumption, and the inability to ensure that the medical functions of the capsule robot can be reliably realized in a complex gastrointestinal environment.

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, in a first aspect, the present application provides a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot, comprising: at least one first component and a capsule shell;

[0009] The capsule shell is provided with a material exchange channel;

[0010] The at least one first component is disposed in the capsule housing;

[0011] The first component includes: a bistable hemispherical shell and a first magnetic coat, both of which are magnetic soft structures; the bistable hemispherical shell includes a first stable configuration and a second stable configuration, the stable configuration conversion driving force of the bistable hemispherical shell has an asymmetric characteristic, and it stores elastic potential energy in the first stable configuration; the stable configuration conversion direction of the bistable hemispherical shell is perpendicular to the length direction of the capsule shell; when the bistable hemispherical shell is in the first stable configuration, the first magnetic coat is arranged on the top side of the hemispherical shell, and the open side of the hemispherical shell serves as a cargo cavity; in the first stable configuration, the magnetization direction of the bistable hemispherical shell diverges to the surrounding areas with the bottom center of its open side as the center, and the magnetization direction of the first magnetic coat is the same as the convex direction of the bistable hemispherical shell in the first stable configuration.

[0012] It should be noted that the present application introduces the bistable configuration of the hemispherical shell and utilizes the asymmetric stable configuration conversion function of the bistable hemispherical shell. The hemispherical shell is relatively more stable in the second stable configuration and is in a metastable state in the first stable configuration. It stores elastic potential energy and only requires a smaller deformation force to release the elastic potential energy and convert it to the second stable configuration. The present application utilizes the elastic potential energy stored in the hemispherical shell in the first stable configuration. When the hemispherical shell is transformed from the first stable configuration to the second stable configuration, the released elastic potential energy can act on the object in the cargo cavity, thereby improving the output capacity of the capsule robot, thereby ensuring the stable realization of the medical function of the capsule robot in a complex gastrointestinal environment (gastrointestinal folds, peristalsis and food residues).

[0013] In a possible implementation, the first component further includes: a second magnetic coat;

[0014] When the bistable hemispherical shell is in a first stable configuration, the second magnetic coat is arranged on an opening side of the hemispherical shell;

[0015] The second magnetic coat is provided with a material exchange channel.

[0016] Preferably, the first magnetic coat and the second magnetic coat are symmetrically arranged and fixedly connected to the inner side wall of the capsule shell respectively.

[0017] It can be understood that the present application can utilize the magnetic torque on the first magnetic coat and the second magnetic coat to achieve better control over the movement of the capsule robot. The magnetic torque of the two symmetrical magnetic coats will be more uniform, and the control effect on the movement of the capsule robot will be better.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the driving force for the stable configuration conversion of the bistable hemispherical shell has an asymmetric characteristic, specifically: the deformation force required for the bistable hemispherical shell to convert from a first stable configuration to a second stable configuration is less than the deformation force required for converting from the second stable configuration to the first stable configuration.

[0019] Those skilled in the art can understand that when the deformation forces required for the configuration conversion of the bistable hemispherical shell in two directions are different, the bistable hemispherical shell is an asymmetric stable configuration conversion hemispherical shell.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the capsule robot further includes: a second component;

[0021] The second component is disposed within the capsule housing;

[0022] The second component includes: an image sensor module, a main control module and a power module;

[0023] The image sensing module is used to capture the surrounding view of the capsule robot, identify the preset area and locate the preset area;

[0024] The main control module is used to transmit the information acquired by the image sensor module to the outside of the capsule robot;

[0025] The power module is used to supply power to the image sensor module and the main control module.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present application provides a driving method for the magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot provided in the first aspect, including the following driving methods:

[0027] Under the action of the first amplitude magnetic field, the capsule robot is driven to move by utilizing the magnetic torque of the first amplitude magnetic field acting on the first magnetic coat and by regulating the direction of the first amplitude magnetic field;

[0028] Under the action of the second amplitude magnetic field, the magnetic torque acting on the bistable hemispherical shell is controlled to be greater than the sum of the main structural force of the bistable hemispherical shell in the first stable configuration and the magnetic gradient force between the hemispherical shell and the first magnetic coat in the first stable configuration, so that the bistable hemispherical shell is transformed from the first stable configuration to the second stable configuration, and the elastic potential energy is quickly released and provides a large driving force to release the objects in the cargo cavity to the outside of the capsule shell through the material exchange channel; the second amplitude is greater than the first amplitude.

[0029] It can be understood that the present application can control the movement of the capsule robot under a low-frequency and low-amplitude magnetic field, and the movement here includes: unidirectional movement or turning movement, etc.; further, the present application can control the capsule robot to release objects in the cargo cavity under the action of a pulsed high-amplitude magnetic field. The magnetic field energy required for the release process is greatly reduced, the time is short, and the controllability is greatly improved.

[0030] In a possible implementation, the first amplitude magnetic field is a low-frequency magnetic field; and the following driving method is also included:

[0031] Under the action of the first amplitude magnetic field, the capsule robot is driven to move by utilizing the magnetic torque of the first amplitude magnetic field acting on the first magnetic coat and the second magnetic coat and by regulating the direction of the first amplitude magnetic field.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the second amplitude magnetic field is a pulsed magnetic field. Under the action of the magnetic gradient force between the first magnetic coat and the bistable hemispherical shell, the second amplitude magnetic field can be accurately loaded onto the bistable hemispherical shell, causing it to undergo a steady-state configuration transition. During this process, the capsule robot always maintains a consistent direction with the magnetic field due to the magnetic torque exerted on the magnetic coat.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the amplitude of the first amplitude magnetic field and / or the second amplitude magnetic field is determined by the sum of the main body structural force and the magnetic gradient force between the lower hemispherical shell and the first magnetic coat in the first steady-state configuration, assuming that the force exerted by the first amplitude magnetic field on the lower hemispherical shell of the first steady-state configuration is insufficient to cause it to undergo a steady-state configuration conversion, and / or the force exerted by the second amplitude magnetic field on the lower hemispherical shell of the first steady-state configuration is sufficient to cause it to undergo a steady-state configuration conversion.

[0034] In a possible implementation, the method further includes the following driving mode:

[0035] By adjusting the material parameters of each first component and / or regulating the parameters of the first amplitude magnetic field and / or the second amplitude magnetic field, independent control of each first component is achieved to control the objects in the cargo cavity of each first component to be released outside the capsule shell at different times and / or different positions.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the material-carrying cavity may carry a sampling needle, a drug-releasing microneedle or a liquid drug;

[0037] Under the action of the second amplitude magnetic field, the objects in the cargo cavity are released to the outside of the capsule shell through the material exchange channel, thereby enabling the capsule robot to perform tissue biopsy, macromolecular substance delivery and drug release in a preset area.

[0038] Preferably, the pressing end of the sampling needle or the drug-releasing microneedle can be connected to the top of the bistable hemispherical shell.

[0039] In general, the above technical solutions conceived by the present application have at least the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art:

[0040] The present application provides a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot and a driving method thereof. By introducing the bistable configuration of a three-dimensional hemispherical shell and utilizing the asymmetric stable configuration conversion function of the bistable hemispherical shell, the elastic potential energy stored in the metastable configuration is utilized as the driving force for the release process of the capsule robot's cargo cavity. This can significantly improve the spatial change and degree of freedom of the material during the bistable switching process, break the bottleneck of insufficient force field output capacity of existing magnetically controlled soft capsule robots under low magnetic fields, and ensure the stable realization of the medical functions of the capsule robot in a complex gastrointestinal environment (gastrointestinal folds, peristalsis and food residues).

[0041] The present application provides a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot and a driving method thereof. The robot adopts a multi-layer magnetic material structure of a magnetically controlled bistable soft spherical shell and a symmetrical magnetic coat. The robot has an overall unidirectional net residual magnetism design. A low-frequency and low-amplitude magnetic field is used for driving the capsule robot when it moves, and a pulsed high-amplitude magnetic field is used when the capsule robot releases substances. A driving method based on amplitude and frequency differentiation is used to realize multi-modal decoupling control of the capsule robot, providing an effective technical approach for the integration of functions such as targeted transport, drug release and sampling of the capsule robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 This is a structural schematic diagram of a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 2 This is another structural schematic diagram of the magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the conversion of the bistable hemispherical shell stable configuration provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the magnetization direction of the capsule robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the overall movement of the capsule robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the local magnetic response of a capsule robot provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] In all the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to represent the same elements or structures, wherein: 1 is an image sensing module, 2 is a main control module, 3 is a power module, 4 is a bistable hemispherical shell, 5 is a capsule shell, 6 is a magnetic coat, and 7 is a material exchange channel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0050] It should be noted that studies have shown that magnetically controlled capsule robot technology can achieve a variety of medical functions such as precise drug release in the lesion area, tissue biopsy, and intestinal flora sampling and analysis. For example, in terms of drug release, the team of Professor Metin Sitti, an academician of the National Academy of Engineering of the United States, has developed a magnetically controlled capsule robot that can be compressed as a whole. The external gradient magnetic field acts on the permanent magnet inside the capsule to generate a gradient force to squeeze the middle cavity, thereby achieving drug release; the team of Professor Han Jianda of Nankai University has designed a magnetically controlled capsule robot with an anchoring arm, which realizes robot anchoring and targeted drug release through an orthogonal decoupling magnetic field driving strategy. In terms of tissue biopsy, Professor Song Shuang of Harbin Institute of Technology has designed a magnetically controlled capsule robot with an integrated spring. The capsule robot is driven by a gradient magnetic field to push out the biopsy needle. After the magnetic field is removed, the spring retracts the biopsy needle to complete the sampling function; the team of Professor Sukho Park of Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology proposed a magnetically controlled capsule robot with a built-in biopsy forceps and a small gear set. The rotating magnetic field acts on the internal permanent magnetic component to drive the gear set to rotate to induce the biopsy forceps to close, thereby achieving the clamping of the lesion tissue. In terms of intestinal sampling, Professor Eric Diller's team at the University of Toronto proposed a magnetically controlled capsule robot based on the principle of resonance. A dual permanent magnet magnetic torsion spring structure with self-attraction characteristics was introduced inside the capsule. By applying an external uniform magnetic field, the dual permanent magnets were induced to rotate and open the sealing rubber, thereby realizing the gastrointestinal fluid collection function.

[0051] From the above research, it can be seen that the magnetically controlled capsule robot technology has shown significant application potential in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in complex gastrointestinal environments due to its advantages of non-endogenous drive design and non-contact active control. However, although non-contact control is one of the most significant advantages of the magnetic drive method, it also brings challenges to the realization of the multi-function of the capsule robot in a complex gastrointestinal environment. In the case of complete unconstrainedness, the targeted motion and morphological control of the capsule robot put forward strict requirements on the design and control of the applied magnetic field. At the same time, the restriction on the size of the capsule in the clinical application scenario also significantly compresses the design space of the magnetic source inside the capsule under the wireless drive mode. Therefore, except for the commercial magnetically controlled capsule endoscope, the existing magnetically controlled capsule robot technology is still mainly in the model and in vitro experimental stage, with large size (larger than the #00 capsule, 8.53mm×23.3mm), low drug loading ratio, strong dependence of magnetic control accuracy on posture information, and high required magnetic field amplitude. And the function is relatively single, which hinders its clinical application.

[0052] Furthermore, as described in the background technology, existing magnetically controlled soft capsule robots face problems such as insufficient output force and high energy consumption, which pose great challenges to the development of electromagnetic drive systems. They also limit the improvement of the function and regulation capabilities of capsule robots in complex gastrointestinal environments, and are prone to gastrointestinal wrinkles, peristalsis, and food residues, which may lead to the inability to release drugs and take samples.

[0053] In summary, the present application provides a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot, which mainly improves the medical components of the magnetically controlled soft capsule robot, improves the performance of the capsule robot, and enhances its application prospects. The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0054] See also Figure 1 The present application provides a magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot, which includes a first component, a second component and a capsule shell 5, wherein:

[0055] The first component and the second component are both disposed within the capsule housing;

[0056] The first component is used to provide a cargo cavity and provide a driving force for the capsule robot to move under the action of a magnetic field, and when the capsule robot moves to a preset position, the driving force provided by the magnetic field releases the object in the cargo cavity out of the capsule shell;

[0057] The second component is used to capture the surrounding view of the capsule robot, identify the preset area and locate the preset area; and transmit the acquired information to the outside of the capsule robot.

[0058] In combination with the functions of the first component and the second component mentioned above, the first component may be referred to as a medical component according to its function, and the second component may be referred to as a visual component according to its function.

[0059] Further optionally, the medical component includes a magnetically controlled bistable soft spherical shell 4 and a magnetic coat 6, wherein the magnetically controlled bistable soft spherical shell can carry sampling needles, drug-releasing microneedles, liquid drugs, etc.; the magnetically controlled bistable soft spherical shell and the magnetic coat constitute a multi-layer magnetic material structure.

[0060] The visual component includes: a power module 3, an image sensor module 1 and a main control module 2; the capsule shell 5 includes a material exchange channel 7 on its surface.

[0061] Preferably, the bistable soft hemispherical shell is the core component of the magnetically controlled capsule robot, which can undergo rapid configuration conversion under the action of an external magnetic field, manifested as the spherical shell convexing upward or concave downward (in Figure 1 and Figure 2 In the example, the hemispherical shell is placed horizontally, and it appears to be convex to the left or concave to the right), and can remain stable after the magnetic field is removed.

[0062] In another embodiment, see Figure 2 As shown, in order to ensure the uniformity and effectiveness of the driving force of the capsule robot, two magnetic coats can be set.

[0063] Optionally, the magnetic coat is fixed to the capsule shell and symmetrically arranged at the top and the open end of the hemispherical shell. Then, the capsule robot can be driven to move effectively by the magnetic torque of the external magnetic field acting on the two magnetic coats.

[0064] Among them, the driving force for the stable configuration conversion of the bistable hemispherical shell has asymmetric characteristics, such as Figure 3 As shown in the figure, when the spherical shell is deformed, the internal potential energy rises rapidly to a peak value and then decreases, forming an energy barrier. When the spherical shell is in steady-state configuration 1, a large amount of elastic potential energy is stored. At this time, only a small magnetic field is needed to make the spherical shell undergo a sudden change from steady-state configuration 1 to steady-state configuration 2, releasing potential energy and converting it into kinetic energy, which provides a prerequisite for achieving low magnetic field triggering and strong force field output to release substances from the carrier cavity.

[0065] Some experimental data of the technicians of the present application show that in one experiment, the external magnetic field required to change from steady-state configuration 1 to steady-state configuration 2 is about 40 mT, and vice versa, 100 mT is required. It can be seen that the configuration conversion driving force of the hemispherical shell of the asymmetric steady-state configuration conversion adopted by the present application is asymmetric.

[0066] like Figure 4 As shown, the magnetization direction of the hemispherical shell radiates from the bottom center of the shell and forms a certain angle (which can vary between 0-90°), while the magnetization direction of the magnetic coat is the same as the bulge direction of the hemispherical shell in steady-state configuration 1. The entire capsule robot adopts a net residual magnetization design with the same direction as the magnetization direction of the magnetic coat.

[0067] Specifically, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that since the angle between the magnetization direction of the hemispherical shell and the magnetization direction of its protruding magnetic measuring coat is an acute angle, the magnetic gradient force F between the magnetic coat and the bistable hemispherical shell is m The stability of the hemispherical shell in the first stable configuration can be enhanced.

[0068] In one embodiment, the steps for preparing a bistable soft hemispherical shell structure can be as follows: First, prepare a magnetic mixed liquid composed of an elastomer substrate and micron-sized NdFeB particles, and inject the liquid into a hemispherical concave mold. Subsequently, the hemispherical convex mold is vertically pressed down along the axis of the mold until it completely fits the surface of the concave mold to ensure that the liquid is evenly distributed in the mold. Then, it is placed at room temperature for several hours to ensure that the mixed liquid is fully cured. After the curing is completed, a soft spherical shell with a predetermined shape and magnetic properties can be obtained by demolding and separation.

[0069] At this time, the shape of the hemispherical shell after demolding is the steady-state configuration 2. In the steady-state configuration 2, a relatively large deformation force is required to convert it into the steady-state configuration 1. On the contrary, in the steady-state configuration 1, the hemispherical shell stores elastic potential energy, and a relatively small deformation force is required to release the elastic potential energy and convert it into the steady-state configuration 2. Therefore, the magnetization direction and the magnetization direction of the convex side magnetic coat in the steady-state configuration 1 designed in the present application are also to increase the stability of the hemispherical shell in the steady-state configuration 1. Therefore, when the hemispherical shell is set in the steady-state configuration 1 in the capsule robot, in the absence of an external driving magnetic field, the magnetically controlled bistable soft spherical shell in the capsule robot will be in the steady-state configuration 1, and under the constraint of its main structural force and the magnetic gradient force between the hemispherical shell and the magnetic coat in the first stable configuration, the stability of its shape is maintained, thereby achieving high airtightness inside the capsule robot.

[0070] It is understandable that those skilled in the art can induce the steady-state configuration transformation of the soft spherical shell by applying an external magnetic field in advance, and intend to use a microsecond-level high-speed digital camera to shoot the dynamic deformation process of the magnetically controlled soft spherical shell under different conditions, and record the magnetic field intensity required under different magnetization conditions. The above research methods are all conventional research methods of those skilled in the art. This application will not go into details about the specific parameter research process of the hemispherical shell, but will focus on introducing the capsule robot.

[0071] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the overall movement of the capsule robot provided in the embodiment of the present application; Figure 5 As shown, it can be seen that Figure 1 or Figure 2 The driving mode of the provided capsule robot is as follows:

[0072] Under the action of the first amplitude magnetic field, the capsule robot is driven to move by utilizing the magnetic torque of the first amplitude magnetic field on the magnetic clothing and regulating the direction of the first amplitude magnetic field; see Appendix Figure 5 It can be seen that the capsule robot can move continuously by being driven by the magnetic torque at various positions.

[0073] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the local magnetic response of the capsule robot provided in the embodiment of the present application; see Figure 6 As shown, under the action of the second amplitude magnetic field, the magnetic torque acting on the bistable hemispherical shell is controlled to be greater than the sum of the main structural force of the bistable hemispherical shell in the first stable configuration and the magnetic gradient force between the hemispherical shell and the first magnetic coat in the first stable configuration, so that the bistable hemispherical shell is transformed from the first stable configuration to the second stable configuration, and the elastic potential energy is quickly released to provide a driving force to release the object in the cargo cavity to the outside of the capsule shell through the material exchange channel; wherein the second amplitude is greater than the first amplitude.

[0074] It can be understood that the present application can control the movement of the capsule robot under a low-frequency and low-amplitude magnetic field, and the movement here includes: unidirectional movement or turning movement, etc.; further, the present application can control the capsule robot to release objects in the cargo cavity under the action of a pulsed high-amplitude magnetic field. The magnetic field energy required for the release process is greatly reduced, the time is short, and the controllability is greatly improved.

[0075] Preferably, see Appendix Figure 6 As shown, the magnetic field B of its steady-state configuration transformation a Its duration is short, so the second amplitude magnetic field is a pulsed magnetic field. Under the action of the magnetic gradient force between the first magnetic coat and the bistable hemispherical shell, the second amplitude magnetic field can be accurately loaded onto the bistable hemispherical shell, causing it to undergo a steady-state configuration transition, and during this process the capsule robot has no time to move.

[0076] It can be understood that the amplitude of the first amplitude magnetic field and / or the second amplitude magnetic field is determined by the sum of the main structural force and the magnetic gradient force between the lower hemispherical shell and the first magnetic coat in the first steady-state configuration, and the force of the first amplitude magnetic field on the lower hemispherical shell of the first steady-state configuration is insufficient to cause it to undergo a steady-state configuration conversion, and / or the force of the second amplitude magnetic field on the lower hemispherical shell of the first steady-state configuration is sufficient to cause it to undergo a steady-state configuration conversion.

[0077] Furthermore, by adjusting the material parameters of each first component and / or regulating the parameters of the first amplitude magnetic field and / or the second amplitude magnetic field, independent control of each first component is achieved to control the objects in the cargo cavity of each first component to be released outside the capsule shell at different times and / or different positions.

[0078] Specifically, under the action of the second amplitude magnetic field, the objects in the cargo cavity are released to the outside of the capsule shell through the material exchange channel, thereby realizing the functions of sampling, targeted transportation or drug release of the capsule robot in a preset area.

[0079] In summary, the magnetically controlled stable soft spherical shell will undergo a rapid steady-state configuration conversion under the action of an external magnetic field. The steady-state configuration is manifested as the spherical shell protruding upward or concave downward, and both can remain stable according to the change in internal potential energy. During the deformation of the spherical shell, the internal potential energy of the structure rises sharply, reaches a peak value, and then decreases, forming an energy barrier. When the spherical shell stabilizes to steady-state configuration 1, a large amount of elastic potential energy is stored due to local elastic strain of the spherical shell. At this time, only a small magnetic field is needed to do work. Even if the spherical shell reverses from steady-state configuration 1 to steady-state configuration 2, the potential energy stored in the structure can be quickly released through the sudden instability and converted into kinetic energy during the structural deformation process.

[0080] Furthermore, the capsule robot can realize unidirectional / steering motion mode by regulating the direction and frequency of the rotating magnetic field (low-frequency low-amplitude magnetic field) under the drive of the low-amplitude magnetic field. The specific control process can be referred to the relevant records of patent document CN 117731219 A, which will not be described here. In this process, the magnetic torque exerted on the soft spherical shell under the action of the external magnetic field is not enough to resist the constraints of the body structure and the gradient magnetic field force between the magnetic coat inside the capsule and the hemispherical shell, so the capsule robot can ensure that no internal deformation occurs. At this time, the main source of driving the capsule robot to move is the magnetic torque acting on the magnetic coat.

[0081] Driven by a high-amplitude magnetic field, pulse loading is achieved by regulating the magnetic field waveform, which can transform the soft spherical shell inside the capsule robot from the first steady-state configuration to the second steady-state configuration, thereby achieving complete discharge of the drugs in the capsule cavity. The pulse magnetic field loading mode (the magnetic field is loaded from low to high and then immediately turned off) can, on the one hand, achieve automatic coincidence of the net residual magnetic direction of the capsule robot with the external magnetic field under a low-amplitude magnetic field, which is conducive to the precise loading of a high-amplitude magnetic field; on the other hand, it can effectively control the power consumption of the overall electromagnetic device (especially as the target area moves away from the electromagnetic device).

[0082] Among them, the precise loading of the high-amplitude pulse magnetic field is understood as follows: under the low-amplitude magnetic field, due to the magnetic gradient force of the hemispherical shell and its convex side magnetic coat and the structural force of the hemispherical shell body, the hemispherical shell does not undergo configuration transformation, and the magnetic gradient force and structural force constrain the hemispherical shell to maintain the stability of the hemispherical shell. Then, when the high-amplitude pulse magnetic field acts on the hemispherical shell, its force continuously acts on the effective area of ​​the hemispherical shell, achieving precise loading of the hemispherical shell, promoting rapid deformation of the hemispherical shell, reducing the loading time of the pulse magnetic field, and improving the efficiency of the pulse magnetic field.

[0083] It should be understood that expressions such as "including" and "may include" that may be used in the present application indicate the existence of the disclosed functions, operations, or constituent elements, and do not limit one or more additional functions, operations, and constituent elements. In the present application, terms such as "including" and / or "having" may be interpreted as indicating specific characteristics, numbers, operations, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof, but may not be interpreted as excluding the existence or possibility of adding one or more other characteristics, numbers, operations, constituent elements, components, or combinations thereof.

[0084] In addition, in the present application, the expression "and / or" includes any and all combinations of the associated listed words. For example, the expression "A and / or B" may include A, may include B, or may include both A and B.

[0085] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the term "connection" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, "connection" can be a detachable connection or a non-detachable connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium. Among them, "fixed connection" means that the relative position relationship after connection remains unchanged. "Rotational connection" means that the two are connected to each other and can rotate relative to each other after connection. "Sliding connection" means that the two are connected to each other and can slide relative to each other after connection. The directional terms mentioned in the embodiments of the present application, such as "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "left", "right", etc., are only reference directions of the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are for better and clearer explanation and understanding of the embodiments of the present application, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0086] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the mathematical concepts mentioned are symmetry, equality, parallelism, verticality, etc. These limitations are all for the current state of the art, rather than being absolutely strict definitions in a mathematical sense, and allow a small amount of deviation, approximation to symmetry, approximation to equality, approximation to parallelism, approximation to verticality, etc. For example, A and B are parallel, which means that A and B are parallel or approximately parallel, and the angle between A and B can be between 0 and 10 degrees. A and B are perpendicular, which means that A and B are perpendicular or approximately perpendicular, and the angle between A and B can be between 80 and 100 degrees.

[0087] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot, characterized in that: include: at least one first component and a capsule housing; The capsule shell is provided with a material exchange channel; The at least one first component is disposed in the capsule housing; The first component includes: a bistable hemispherical shell and a first magnetic coat, both of which are magnetic soft structures; the bistable hemispherical shell includes a first stable configuration and a second stable configuration, the stable configuration conversion driving force of the bistable hemispherical shell has an asymmetric characteristic, and it stores elastic potential energy in the first stable configuration; the stable configuration conversion direction of the bistable hemispherical shell is perpendicular to the length direction of the capsule shell; when the bistable hemispherical shell is in the first stable configuration, the first magnetic coat is arranged on the top side of the hemispherical shell, and the open side of the hemispherical shell serves as a cargo cavity; in the first stable configuration, the magnetization direction of the bistable hemispherical shell diverges to the surrounding areas with the bottom center of its open side as the center, and the magnetization direction of the first magnetic coat is the same as the convex direction of the bistable hemispherical shell in the first stable configuration.

2. The capsule robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first component also includes: a second magnetic coat; When the bistable hemispherical shell is in a first stable configuration, the second magnetic coat is arranged on an opening side of the hemispherical shell; The second magnetic coat is provided with a material exchange channel.

3. The capsule robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The driving force for the stable configuration conversion of the bistable hemispherical shell has an asymmetric characteristic, specifically: the deformation force required for the bistable hemispherical shell to convert from a first stable configuration to a second stable configuration is smaller than the deformation force required for converting from the second stable configuration to the first stable configuration.

4. The capsule robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: Second component; The second component is disposed within the capsule housing; The second component includes: an image sensor module, a main control module and a power module; The image sensing module is used to capture the surrounding view of the capsule robot to identify and locate the preset area; The main control module is used to transmit the information acquired by the image sensor module to the outside of the capsule robot; The power module is used to supply power to the image sensor module and the main control module.

5. A driving method for the magnetically controlled bistable soft capsule robot according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The following drive modes are included: Under the action of the first amplitude magnetic field, the capsule robot is driven to move by utilizing the magnetic torque of the first amplitude magnetic field acting on the first magnetic coat and by regulating the direction of the first amplitude magnetic field; Under the action of the second amplitude magnetic field, the magnetic torque acting on the bistable hemispherical shell is controlled to be greater than the sum of the main structural force of the bistable hemispherical shell in the first stable configuration and the magnetic gradient force between the hemispherical shell and the first magnetic coat in the first stable configuration, so that the bistable hemispherical shell is transformed from the first stable configuration to the second stable configuration, and the elastic potential energy is quickly released and provides corresponding driving force to release the objects in the cargo cavity to the outside of the capsule shell through the material exchange channel; the second amplitude is greater than the first amplitude.

6. The driving method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first amplitude magnetic field is a low-frequency magnetic field; and the following driving modes are also included: Under the action of the first amplitude magnetic field, the capsule robot is driven to move by utilizing the magnetic torque of the first amplitude magnetic field acting on the first magnetic coat and the second magnetic coat and by regulating the direction of the first amplitude magnetic field.

7. The driving method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The second amplitude magnetic field is a pulsed magnetic field. Under the action of the magnetic gradient force between the first magnetic coat and the bistable hemispherical shell, the second amplitude magnetic field can be accurately loaded onto the bistable hemispherical shell, causing it to undergo a steady-state configuration transition. During this process, the capsule robot always maintains a consistent direction with the magnetic field due to the magnetic torque exerted on the magnetic coat.

8. The driving method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The amplitude of the first amplitude magnetic field and / or the second amplitude magnetic field is determined by the sum of the main body structural force and the magnetic gradient force between the lower hemispherical shell and the first magnetic coat in the first steady-state configuration, based on the criterion that the force exerted by the first amplitude magnetic field on the lower hemispherical shell of the first steady-state configuration is insufficient to cause it to undergo a steady-state configuration conversion, and / or the force exerted by the second amplitude magnetic field on the lower hemispherical shell of the first steady-state configuration is sufficient to cause it to undergo a steady-state configuration conversion.

9. The driving method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The following drive modes are also included: By adjusting the material parameters of each first component and / or regulating the parameters of the first amplitude magnetic field and / or the second amplitude magnetic field, independent control of each first component is achieved to control the objects in the cargo cavity of each first component to be released outside the capsule shell at different times and / or different positions.

10. The driving method according to any one of claims 5 to 10, characterized in that: The loading chamber can carry a sampling needle, a drug-releasing microneedle or a liquid drug; Under the action of the second amplitude magnetic field, the objects in the cargo cavity are released to the outside of the capsule shell through the material exchange channel, thereby enabling the capsule robot to perform tissue biopsy, macromolecular substance delivery and drug release in a preset area.

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