title: Preliminary study of an intestinal bio-robot system based on nerve stimulation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Wireless capsule endoscopes for diagnosis and treatment in the gastrointestinal tract face the common problem of active actuation. To tackle this difficulty, a non-invasive intestinal bio-robot system with active actuation based on nerve stimulation was developed.
  
  
  METHODS
  This intestinal inspection system utilized a natural organism--the mud eel--to serve as the locomotion mechanism, and it was controlled by a LabVIEW-programmed pulse generator. The exterior control unit was able to actively drive and remotely control the navigation and site-specific anchoring of the organism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Through in vitro stimulation experiments, a method of controlling the organism's forward motion was obtained: when the organism was stimulated at the tail, it moved forward at a relatively fast speed and with high repeatability. The stimulator parameters were as follows: amplitude 1.85 μA, frequency 2 Hz, pulse duration 500 μs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since this is a preliminary study, considerable work remains to be done. However, the results could provide a solid theoretical basis for further research toward producing a practical intestinal bio-robot for the diagnosis and treatment of the gastrointestinal tract.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering of Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Hongying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xitian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pi
authors.forename: Shengshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053705:Capsule Endoscopes; D004524:Eels / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D007422:Intestines / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012371:Robotics