Inflatable Capsule Endoscope with Magnetic Guidance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional in-vivo capsule endoscopes sink in liquid-filled cavities, requiring strong magnetic fields and large magnets for guidance, which limits portability and access, and obstructs the field of view due to contact with cavity walls and floors.
Innovation Solution
An inflatable capsule endoscope system that uses an external inflatable buoy to float the capsule, reducing friction and drag, allowing for magnetic guidance with weaker magnetic fields and improving image visibility by keeping the capsule away from cavity floors and walls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the capsule sinks in liquid-filled cavity, then the capsule is stable on the cavity floor, but strong magnetic fields and large magnets are required to overcome friction and drag, limiting portability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies buoyancy as a counterweight force to gravity. The inflatable buoyant structure generates upward buoyant force that counteracts the downward gravitational force on the capsule, causing the capsule to float rather than sink. This eliminates the need for strong magnetic fields to overcome gravitational settling and friction, enabling portable magnetic guidance systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state of the capsule from sinking to floating by introducing an inflatable buoyant structure. This parameter change in the capsule's density and buoyancy characteristics fundamentally alters its interaction with the liquid environment, reducing friction and drag forces that would otherwise require strong magnetic fields to overcome.
2Force
If the capsule sinks to the cavity floor, then the capsule is easier to position, but the field of view is obstructed by cavity walls and floor
Solution Approach 1:
The buoyant structure provides an upward counterweight force that suspends the capsule in the liquid column, positioning it away from the cavity floor and walls. This suspension effect eliminates obstructions to the camera's field of view, allowing unobstructed imaging of the cavity contents without requiring the capsule to be in direct contact with surfaces.
3Ease of operation
If large magnets are used to guide the sunken capsule, then the capsule can be moved through liquid, but the system occupies an entire room and is not portable
Solution Approach 1:
By using buoyancy to counteract gravity, the patent eliminates the need for large magnetic forces required to move a sunken capsule through viscous liquid and overcome friction. The floating capsule experiences dramatically reduced drag and friction forces, allowing small portable magnets to generate sufficient magnetic field strength for effective guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the capsule's operational state from sinking to floating, which fundamentally alters the fluid dynamics and force requirements. This parameter change reduces the magnetic force threshold from Newton-level forces (requiring room-sized magnets) to millinewton-level forces (achievable with portable handheld magnets).
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables easier magnetic navigation with smaller, portable magnets and enhances image quality by reducing obstructions, allowing for more accessible and effective capsule endoscopy.
Implementation Method 1
an inflatable buoy external to the capsule-shaped body, and an inflation device configured to inflate the in-vivo capsule endoscope by injecting gas into the inflatable buoy to reduce the specific gravity of the in-vivo capsule endoscope
Implementation Method 2
one or more permanent magnets housed interior to the capsule-shaped body having a permanent magnetic moment for magnetically guiding the inflatable in-vivo capsule endoscope when exposed to an externally generated magnetic field
Data Source
AI summary
An inflatable in-vivo capsule endoscope and method of operation is provided. The inflatable in-vivo capsule endoscope may include a sensing device for capturing in-vivo images and one or more permanent magnets for magnetically guiding the endoscope, housed interior to a capsule-shaped body. The inflatable in-vivo capsule endoscope may include an inflatable buoy attached externally to the capsule-shaped body. An inflation device may inflate the in-vivo capsule endoscope to reduce its specific gravity by injecting gas into the inflatable buoy, such that when the inflatable buoy is injected with an above threshold volume of gas, the inflatable in-vivo capsule endoscope floats in liquid. The inflatable in-vivo capsule endoscope may be magnetically guided via its permanent magnets when exposed to an externally generated magnetic field. A reduced magnetic field strength and external magnet size may be used to magnetically navigate an inflated capsule floating in liquid than a conventional uninflated capsule.