title: An approach to capsular endoscopy with active motion.
abstract: This paper describes a novel approach to capsular endoscopy that takes advantage of active legged locomotion in the gastro intestinal tract. The basic and essential functions that such a microdevice must possess are listed and discussed in details, as well as the specific features required in the different districts of the digestive path. Active legged locomotion was selected to achieve the adequate degree of flexibility and accuracy during the capsule journey. In addition, on-board locomotion mechanisms would allow to avoid bulky external driving systems that are typical of externally actuated devices. Two different prototypes, having 4 and 8 legs respectively, are presented, evaluated and tested. In particular, the 8-leg solution achieved a speed of 6 cm/min during in vitro tests. Moreover, it demonstrated capabilities of backward locomotion, vertical locomotion and locomotion around acute bends.
authors.affiliation: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, 56100 Italy. quirini@sssup.it
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quirini
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scapellato
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valdastri
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Menciassi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dario
mesh_terms: D053704:Capsule Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009038:Motion