Mechanical Engineering Department, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2010 Jun;57(6):1264-72. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2010.2040617. Epub 2010 Feb 17.
Design of a self-propelling endoscope has been of interest for decades, as it allows for simplified medical examination techniques and improved patient comfort, together with advanced analysis capacity. In this paper, we describe the development of a fully automatic, multiple-balloon system achieving peristaltic locomotion, controlled by a single supply channel. The system employs the nonlinear pressure-radius characteristics of elastic balloons to simultaneously control numerous balloons with a constant inlet pressure. The balloons are connected in series and the flow is controlled by small orifices, which delay the flow between them. The proposed multiple-balloon system requires no moving parts, no electronics, and relies on dynamics of the fluid flow between serially interconnected inflatable balloons. The entire system is made of disposable silicone and is plastic-modeled by injection molding. Additionally, the cost of such a system is expected to be low and suitable for numerous biomedical applications as it can be easily scaled down due to the need for only one supply line. Mathematical modeling, and simulation and experimental results of a system prototype are presented in this paper. Experimental results in the straight cylinder show close correlation to simulated system.
几十年来，自推进内窥镜的设计一直备受关注，因为它允许简化医疗检查技术并提高患者舒适度，同时还具有先进的分析能力。在本文中，我们描述了一种完全自动的、多气囊系统的开发，该系统实现了蠕动运动，由单个供应通道控制。该系统利用弹性气囊的非线性压力-半径特性，通过恒定的入口压力同时控制多个气球。气球串联连接，通过小喷嘴控制流量，从而在它们之间延迟流量。所提出的多气囊系统不需要移动部件，不需要电子设备，并且依赖于串联互连的可充气气球之间的流体流动动力学。整个系统由一次性硅树脂制成，并通过注塑成型进行塑料成型。此外，由于只需要一个供应线，这种系统的成本预计很低，并且适合许多生物医学应用，因为它可以很容易地缩小规模。本文介绍了系统原型的数学建模、仿真和实验结果。在直圆柱中的实验结果与模拟系统密切相关。
