Division of Biomedical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Dig Endosc. 2012 Jan;24(1):1-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1443-1661.2011.01181.x. Epub 2011 Jul 13.
Although colonoscopy is a very commonly carried out procedure, it is not without its problems, including a risk of perforation and significant patient discomfort, especially associated with looping formation. Furthermore, looping formation may prevent a complete colonoscopy from being carried out in certain patients. The conventional colonoscope has not changed very much since its original introduction. We review promising technologies that are being promoted as a way to address the problems with current colonoscopy. There are some methods to prevent looping formation, including overtube, variable stiffness, computer-guided scopes, Aer-O-Scope, magnetic endoscopic imaging and the capsule endoscope. In recent years, with the progress of microelectromechanical and microelectronic technologies, many biomedical and robotic researchers are developing autonomous endoscopes with miniaturization of size and integration functionality that represent state of the art of the micro-robotic endoscope. The initial results by using aforementioned methods seem promising; however, there are some conflicting reports of clinical trials with the overtube colonoscope, the computer-guided scope and the variable stiffness colonoscope. There are also some limitations in the use of the Aer-o-scope and the capsule endoscope. The autonomous endoscope is based on a self-propelling property that is able to avoid looping completely. This novel technology could potentially become the next generation endoscope; however, there are still critical techniques to be approached in order to develop the effective and efficient novel endoscope.
虽然结肠镜检查是一种非常常见的操作，但它并非没有问题，包括穿孔的风险和患者明显的不适，尤其是与套叠形成有关。此外，套叠的形成可能会阻止某些患者进行完整的结肠镜检查。传统的结肠镜自问世以来并没有太大的变化。我们回顾了一些有前途的技术，这些技术被认为是解决目前结肠镜检查问题的一种方法。有一些方法可以预防套叠的形成，包括外套管、可变硬度、计算机引导的内窥镜、Aer-O-Scope、磁内镜成像和胶囊内窥镜。近年来，随着微机电和微电子技术的进步，许多生物医学和机器人研究人员正在开发具有微型化尺寸和集成功能的自主内窥镜，这代表了微机器人内窥镜的最新水平。使用上述方法的初步结果似乎很有希望；然而，外套管结肠镜、计算机引导的内窥镜和可变硬度结肠镜的临床试验有一些相互矛盾的报告。Aer-O-scope 和胶囊内窥镜的使用也存在一些限制。自主内窥镜基于一种能够完全避免套叠的自推进特性。这项新技术有可能成为下一代内窥镜；然而，为了开发有效和高效的新型内窥镜，仍有一些关键技术需要解决。
