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VIBRATIONAL GASTROINTESTINAL MICROROBOTICS. Research by Michael Nye. The Project. The problem The solution The process. Introduction. Traditionally, capturing pictures of your GI tract means one of two things: Endoscopes on a long line that is manually manipulated
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VIBRATIONAL GASTROINTESTINAL MICROROBOTICS Research by Michael Nye
The Project The problem The solution The process
Introduction • Traditionally, capturing pictures of your GI tract means one of two things: • Endoscopes on a long line that is manually manipulated • A pill that lets the body do the moving
Endoscopes • A wire is manually inserted into the body with an eyepiece or camera on the end • Lower resolution • Uncomfortable
Pill cameras • A small pill, ingested orally • Slow to gather footage • No fine control
Engineering goal • This project is a proof of concept. The goal is to demonstrate: • A robot can move using only vibration • A device can control the direction a robot moves in • All of this could be fit into a pill form factor
Step 1: Design and fabrication • A simple platform was designed that would allow for the most flexibility in testing • Several skiffs were constructed that fit into this test platform • Intended to limit movement to one direction
Step 2: Testing • Test platform was hooked up to a power supply, and 2 different skiffs were tested • Observational data was collected • How the robot behaved – speed, direction, stability • Observations were then used to refine a 2nd gen
Step 2: Testing (continued) • 2nd generation was tested for: • Speed • Straight paths
The test surface • Even, paper surface • 9 inch-long track • Incremental marks along finish line
The Observations The skiffs The data
General observations • Pager motor’s speed matters • The device will naturally move in the direction the pager motor faces • The motor induces a spin in the device • The skiff must be rigid and sturdy
Skiff tests data table • Device timed over a 9 inch course • Data is the average of 10 runs each
The future The new designs The end goal
Analysis of observations • The motor takes control • None of the designs could move straight • Design moves itself forwards • Very practical design! • With a very small motor and low voltage, the robot could move forward fairly steadily • All that’s needed is something to keep the robot from drifting side to side
The Next Step • Adapting the test observations to make a pill shaped robot, powered by a pager motor • A pill with two pager motors – one facing forward, one facing backwards • This will allow it to travel in two directions – each motor will direct the device without assistance • Three rails that can extend from the sides of the pill • The rails allow the robot to get a stronger contact with the walls of the GI Tract – this will transfer the motion more smoothly • The rails should be able to extend and retract, in order to best contact with the walls
Bibliography Carlsson. "Sedation for Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy." Thieme eJournals 27. (1995): 240-243. Web. 2 Dec 2009. <http://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/endoscopy/doi/10.1055/s-2007-1005678>. Kovac. "“Video pill” may supplement standard endoscopy." British Medical Journal (2001). Web. 2 Dec 2009. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/pmc/articles/PMC1120972/>. Panescu. "An imaging pill for gastrointestinal endoscopy." Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine 24.4 (2005): 12-14. Web. 2 Dec 2009. <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=1463383>. Ponsky. "Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy." Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery 8.7 (2007): 901-904. Web. 2 Dec 2009. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/b28u23772528x84p/>. Tearney. "In Vivo Endoscopic Optical Biopsy with Optical Coherence Tomography." Science 276. (1997). Web. 2 Dec 2009. <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/276/5321/2037>.
Special thanks are owed to… Dr. Mark Rentschler, Mr. Levin Sliker, And the CU Boulder Mechanical Engineering Department for providing this opportunity.