Self-Propelled Soft Robot Body for Safe Endoscope Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical endoscopes with rigid components pose safety hazards during insertion due to the risk of scratches and punctures when navigating through human tissues, complicating the surgical process.
Innovation Solution
A self-propelled soft robot body with a tube cavity containing telescopic driving units and support structures, utilizing fluid accommodation cavities and restraint layers for controlled expansion and contraction, allowing for flexible movement and navigation within human tracts without rigid components, enhancing safety and compatibility with magnetic resonance imaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid components are used in endoscope insertion part, then structural strength is improved, but safety hazards increase due to risk of scratches and punctures
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope is constructed entirely from soft, flexible materials including a soft robot body, soft gripper, and soft manipulator, eliminating rigid components that could cause tissue damage. The soft robot body includes a soft driving unit with fluid accommodation cavities that expand and contract to propel the endoscope through the tract without scratching or puncturing tissues.
Solution Approach 2:
The soft driving unit utilizes fluid pressure control through fluid accommodation cavities to achieve expansion and contraction for propulsion. Fluid is supplied through fluid supply lines to create controlled expansion of the soft robot body, enabling movement through the tract without mechanical contact that could cause injury.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If soft materials are used throughout the endoscope, then safety is improved by eliminating rigid components, but navigation precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope is divided into distinct functional modules: a soft robot body for propulsion, a soft gripper for manipulation, and a soft manipulator for positioning. Each module can be independently controlled through fluid pressure, allowing precise navigation and manipulation tasks while maintaining overall softness for safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The soft driving unit dynamically changes its shape and rigidity through controlled expansion and contraction of fluid accommodation cavities. This dynamic behavior allows the soft endoscope to adapt to different tract geometries while maintaining navigation precision through active control of the soft structure.
3Ease of operation
If fluid accommodation cavities are used for propulsion, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid supply system serves multiple functions: it provides propulsion through the soft driving unit, enables gripping through the soft gripper, and controls manipulation through the soft manipulator. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate control systems for each function, thereby reducing overall device complexity despite the sophisticated capabilities.
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
The self-propelled soft robot body achieves safe and precise navigation within human tracts, reducing operational risks and improving comfort by using fluid-driven telescopic units and support structures, enabling flexible movement and real-time navigation during surgeries, while avoiding damage to tissues and maintaining a sterile environment.
Implementation Method 1
the first fluid accommodation cavity is communicated with a fluid supply-drainage device through a first fluid supply-drainage pipe, and under an action of the fluid supply-drainage device, able to extend when pressurized or contract when depressurized along the axis
Implementation Method 2
The first driving unit, the second driving unit and the third driving unit respectively comprise at least one first expansion body, for the first fluid accommodation cavity to be formed therein
Implementation Method 3
The propelling structure further comprises a first restraint layer, which circumferentially surrounds an exterior of the tube, for restricting the extension or contraction of the first driving unit, the second driving unit and the third driving unit along the axis of the tube
Implementation Method 4
The support structure includes a positioning and expansion unit, fixedly arranged on the peripheral wall of the tube, adapted for expanding or contracting in an radial direction of the tube, and able to be fixed to the tract when expanding, and separated from the tract when contracting
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a self-propelled soft robot body, including a tube which is internally and axially provided with a tube cavity, and at least one propelling structure, comprising a first driving unit, a second driving unit and a third driving unit, which are evenly fixed on a peripheral wall of the tube cavity, relative to an axis thereof, and along the axis of the tube; and the first driving unit, the second driving unit and the third driving unit are respectively telescopic along the axis of the tube; at least two support structures, with each two adjacent support structures having at least one propelling structure arranged therebetween, the support structures are fixedly connected with the propelling structure and arranged on the peripheral wall of the tube cavity.