Development of a Self-Propelled Actively Bendable Colonoscope Robot with a "Party Horn" Propulsion Mechanism

Abstract

Drawbacks of conventional colonoscopy include the risk of accidental injury and a dependence on the operator's skill. This study presents a novel minimally invasive self-propelled colonoscope robot. We developed an active-bending module, made with pneumatic parallel links with three degrees of freedom, and assembled in a robot (WQE-5) propelled by a "party horn" mechanism with a thrust generator. We confirm the increase in the passing speed in the curved section of a colon model, achieved by the winding of WQE-5.