Variable Stiffness Flexible Tube for Intestinal Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible tube insertion apparatuses face challenges in navigating the intestines due to uniform bending stiffness, which can cause the insertion section to become stuck or excessively extend the intestinal wall, leading to patient distress and difficulty in inserting the device into deep portions.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus features a flexible tube insertion section with variable stiffness sections that can change bending stiffness on a segment-by-segment basis, controlled by a variable stiffness control system that adjusts stiffness based on the bending shape of the insertion section, allowing for adaptive bending to match the intestinal tract's curvature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the bending stiffness of the insertion section is increased to facilitate force transmission, then the insertion section can be advanced further, but the insertion section may become stuck in flexures and excessively extend the sigmoid colon, causing patient distress
Solution Approach 1:
The insertion section is divided into multiple variable stiffness sections with different bending stiffness values along its length. This segmentation allows each section to independently adapt to local anatomical conditions, enabling deeper insertion while preventing excessive force application that causes patient distress.
Solution Approach 2:
The bending stiffness of each section is made dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. The stiffness values can be changed in real-time based on the bending state detected by the shape acquisition section, allowing the insertion section to adapt to changing anatomical conditions during insertion and withdrawal, thereby preventing patient distress while achieving deeper insertion.
2Force
If the bending stiffness of the entire insertion section is uniformly changed, then force transmission is improved, but the stiffness cannot be changed according to the bending state inside the intestinal tract
Solution Approach 1:
The insertion section is divided into multiple independently controllable variable stiffness sections. This allows different segments to have different stiffness levels simultaneously, enabling both effective force transmission from proximal sections and adaptive bending at distal sections to match intestinal tract curvature.
Solution Approach 2:
Each variable stiffness section can be independently controlled to have specific stiffness characteristics suited to its local function. Proximal sections maintain higher stiffness for force transmission, while distal sections adopt lower stiffness for adaptive bending, creating local quality variations that resolve the contradiction between force transmission and adaptability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If different levels of flexibility are provided at areas of the flexible tube portion, then distress at patient during insertion is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than using fixed different flexibility levels that increase structural complexity, the patent implements dynamic stiffness control where each section's flexibility can be adjusted in real-time. This reduces structural complexity while maintaining the ability to reduce patient distress through adaptive bending.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of bending stiffness dynamically through control signals rather than through complex structural variations. By controlling the stiffness parameter of each section independently, the system reduces patient distress while avoiding the device complexity that would result from fixed structural differences between sections.
Data Source
AI summary
An flexible tube insertion apparatus includes a tubular insertion section including a bending portion and a flexible tube portion, variable stiffness sections to cause a change in a level of a bending stiffness of the flexible tube portion, a variable stiffness control section that controls the change in the bending stiffness by the variable stiffness sections; and a time setting section that sets a time period. The variable stiffness control section causes the bending stiffness of the variable stiffness sections to change in such a manner that the relationship of levels between the bending stiffness of adjacent variable stiffness sections is switched at the set time period when the variable stiffness control section determines that the flexible tube portion is passing through a flexure of the subject.