Highly Flexible Endoscopic Robots: Design, Modelling, and Interaction Control

该项目旨在开发一种用于内窥镜检查的新型机器人内窥镜，以提高患者的舒适度和诊断准确性。传统的内窥镜由一个被动柔性管组成，远端有一个可操纵的摄像头。这些传统的器械依赖于内窥镜医师手动推动内窥镜穿过患者的食道或结肠，从而引起显著的不适。这种不适被认为是大部分患者不参加定期肠道筛查的原因，这是预防肠癌的最佳和最简单的方法。创造一种更舒适的内窥镜可以提高筛查的参与率，从而降低肠癌的发病率。具体来说，该项目最初将专注于开发一种柔软的蠕虫状机器人，该机器人能够在兼容的环境中进行操作，例如人体内的环境。该设备必须柔软，以最大限度地减少患者的不适，但也必须能够施加足够的力来进行移动和摄像机定向。将对机器人与环境的相互作用进行建模，以优化设备的机动性和患者舒适度之间的潜在权衡。这将涉及检查机器人施加的力，并开发有效控制它们的技术。

The project seeks to develop a new kind of robotic endoscope for use in endoscopy which will improve patient comfort and diagnostic accuracy. Traditional endoscopes consist of a passively flexible tube with a steerable camera at the distal end. These traditional instruments rely on the endoscopist manually pushing the scope through the patient's oesophagus or colon, causing significant discomfort. This discomfort is believed to be the cause of a large proportion of patients not attending regular bowel screenings, which are the best and simplest way of preventing bowel cancer. Creating a more comfortable endoscope could improve the rate of participation in screenings and thus reduce the incidence of bowel cancer.Specifically, the project will initially focus on developing a soft, worm-like robot that is able to manoeuvre inside compliant environments, such as those found inside the human body. The device must be soft to minimise patient discomfort but must also be able to exert sufficient force for locomotion and camera orientation. Modelling of the robot's interaction with the environment will be carried out in order to optimise the potential trade-off between the device's manoeuvrability and patient comfort level. This will involve examining the forces exerted by the robot and developing techniques to effectively control them.