Magnetically Controlled Endo-Robot Navigation in Curved Body Cavities
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional minimally invasive diagnosis and intervention techniques face challenges in navigating carrier heads within the body, particularly in long and curved spaces like the small intestine, due to manual force application and high friction, limiting their ability to traverse complex paths and maintain displacement over distance.
Innovation Solution
A magnet system generating a 3D gradient field allows for remote-controlled movement and orientation of a freely mobile endo-robot carrier head, equipped with a linear magnet and a superconducting basic field magnet for gravity compensation, enabling navigation and tool operation within the body without external fixation, along with additional features like illumination, localization, and tool integration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual force is applied to navigate the carrier head, then the device can be controlled by the surgeon's hand, but the device cannot traverse long distances due to high friction and force loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical control system with a magnetic field-based control system. A magnet system generates magnetic fields that interact with magnets embedded in the carrier head, enabling wireless navigation through body cavities without mechanical connection to the surgeon's hand, thereby eliminating friction losses and enabling long-distance traversal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces magnetic fields as an intermediary between the surgeon's control inputs and the carrier head navigation. The magnet system acts as a mediator that translates control commands into precise positioning of the carrier head deep within body cavities without direct mechanical contact, solving the force transmission problem over long distances.
2Length of moving object
If the catheter is made long to reach distant targets, then coverage is improved, but friction increases making displacement impossible over greater distances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical force transmission through the catheter with magnetic field interaction. By embedding magnets in the carrier head and using an external magnet system, the invention eliminates the need for mechanical force transmission through the catheter length, thereby avoiding friction losses that would prevent displacement over long distances.
3Ease of operation
If rigid or flexible endoscopes are used for navigation, then the carrier head can be guided, but the instruments may become entangled or cause injury in complex body geometries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical guidance systems (rigid or flexible endoscopes) with magnetic field-based navigation. The carrier head responds to magnetic field gradients without physical constraints, eliminating entanglement risks and injury potential associated with mechanical instruments navigating complex body geometries.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic magnetic field control to navigate the carrier head through complex body cavities. By dynamically adjusting magnetic field gradients, the system provides precise control without physical constraints, allowing the carrier head to navigate complex geometries without entanglement or injury risks.
4Ease of operation
If external magnetic field is used to steer the catheter tip, then directional control is improved, but manual force application remains required and long device extent is still a problem
Solution Approach 1:
The patent completely replaces manual mechanical control with magnetic field-based control. The magnet system generates magnetic fields that interact with magnets in the carrier head, providing directional control without any mechanical connection or manual force application, thereby eliminating the problem of long device extent required for manual control.
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 precise, friction-free navigation and operation of instruments within the body, preventing entanglement and injury, with enhanced control and versatility for examinations and interventions, including specimen collection and targeted medication delivery.
Implementation Method 1
a magnet system is provided that accepts the examination region of the patient and generates a 3D gradient field for remote-controlled movement and orientation of the carrier head in the body
Implementation Method 2
The endo-robot contains a bar magnet or a drivable, approximately linear coil, so that a linear force and a torque can be generated by interaction with the gradient field
Implementation Method 3
a superconducting basic field magnet, particularly a basic field magnet composed of a high-temperature superconductor. This compensation of the force of gravity exerted on the endo-robot
Data Source
AI summary
A system for the implementation of minimally invasive diagnoses and interventions in the inside of the body of a patient has an endo-robot that has a linear magnet and carries measurement instruments and/or instruments for taking specimens and/or for treatment. The endo-robot is freely mobile within the body of a patient. A magnet system accepts the examination region of the patient and generates a 3D gradient field for remotely-controls movement and orientation of the endo-robot in the patient's body by interaction with the linear magnet.