Flexible endoscopes (long, slender, flexible instruments with a camera and light at the distal end, having working channels to introduce flexible instruments) are used for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions inside the human digestive system and inside the abdomen. Though used for their flexibility, the flexibility of these instruments causes several difficulties during insertion and use. During insertion, flexible endoscopes can buckle and loop, which may hamper full insertion into the patient’s body. During therapeutic interventions, the flexible endoscope fails to provide stability for surgical instruments that are introduced through the flexible endoscope.
Shaft-guidance would be a good solution because it potentially enables following a 3D trajectory without any support of the surrounding anatomy at all. Combining auto-propulsion with a rigidity control mechanism may provide improvement in applications within confined anatomies where auto-propulsion simplifies insertion and rigidifying the endoscope shaft helps to stabilize the instruments during surgery. Three potentially suitable rigidity control concepts are selected and further investigated to quantitatively and qualitatively predict the maximally achievable flexural rigidity of these rigidity control mechanisms:
– Vacu-SL
– FORGUIDE
The thesis on this topic can be found on:
Shaft-Guidance for Flexible Endoscopes