Endoscope Variable Stiffness Control for Smooth Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional endoscope devices with pressure sensors and variable stiffness mechanisms face challenges in navigating through bent portions of the body, as the stiffness adjustment primarily focuses on individual segments, leading to inefficient propulsion and potential discomfort due to increased pressure on the body cavity walls.
Innovation Solution
An endoscope device with a flexible insertion unit featuring a state quantity calculating unit, an origin specifying unit, and an operation controller that adjusts the bending rigidity of multiple segments continuously, allowing for optimized bending and reduced stiffness in segments adjacent to the most bent areas to facilitate smoother navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the variable stiffness mechanism operates to decrease stiffness of a segment when a pressure sensor is pressed, then the segment becomes softer to conform to the body cavity wall, but the bending amount of that segment increases excessively and it pushes the body cavity wall with acute angles, causing pain and ineffective propulsion
Solution Approach 1:
The insertion unit is divided into multiple segments with independent variable stiffness mechanisms. When a pressure sensor in a specific segment is pressed, only that segment and its adjacent segments adjust their stiffness, while other segments maintain their original state. This localized segmentation allows the endoscope to adapt to body cavity contours without causing acute-angled pushes, as each segment can independently conform to the wall shape.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different stiffness characteristics to different segments based on local conditions detected by pressure sensors. When a segment abuts on the body cavity wall, the variable stiffness mechanism of that specific segment (and adjacent segments) is activated to decrease stiffness locally, while other segments maintain higher stiffness for effective propulsion. This local quality adjustment prevents the entire insertion unit from bending excessively and causing pain.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the variable stiffness mechanism decreases stiffness of a segment to allow bending, then the segment can conform to the body cavity wall, but the insertion force is converted to force to extend the body cavity rather than generating propulsion
Solution Approach 1:
The insertion unit is divided into multiple segments with independent variable stiffness control. When navigating bent portions, only the segments that need to conform to the body cavity wall have their stiffness decreased, while other segments maintain higher stiffness to generate effective propulsion force. This segmentation allows simultaneous adaptation and propulsion without converting all insertion force into wall-extension force.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the stiffness of different segments based on real-time feedback from pressure sensors. As the endoscope moves through the body cavity, the control unit continuously monitors which segments are pressing against the wall and adjusts their stiffness accordingly. This dynamic adjustment ensures that propulsion efficiency is maintained by keeping non-contact segments stiff while allowing contact segments to be flexible.
3Device complexity
If only a single segment's stiffness is adjusted when a pressure sensor is pressed, then that segment becomes softer, but the adjacent segments remain stiff and cannot contribute to smoothing the bending path
Solution Approach 1:
When a pressure sensor in a specific segment is pressed, the system proactively adjusts the stiffness of not only that segment but also its adjacent segments. This preliminary action ensures that the bending path is smoothed in advance before the endoscope encounters the bent portion, allowing for more comfortable and efficient navigation through the body cavity without requiring complex real-time coordination of all segments.
Data Source
AI summary
An endoscope device includes: an insertion unit having segments continuously provided along an axial direction of the insertion unit and configured to be inserted into a lumen; a state quantity calculating unit configured to calculate a state quantity of each segment; variable rigidity portions provided for each segment to allow bending rigidity of each segment to be variable; an origin specifying unit configured to specify an origin segment among the segments in setting a segment range indicating which segment the bending rigidity is to be changed or in setting the bending rigidity, based on the state quantity of each segment; and an operation controller configured to: set the segment range or set the bending rigidity of each segment, based on the origin segment; and decrease bending rigidities of two or more continuously provided segments based on the set segment range or on the set bending rigidity.