A Novel Control Method of Magnetic Navigation Capsule Endoscope for Gastrointestinal Examination

Magnetic navigation capsule endoscopy (MNCE) has been widely used for gastric examination because of its advantages of high examination accuracy, speed, and minimal injury. However, the insufficient driving force and single control strategy of currently commercialized products have become challenges for applying in the active inspection of the intestinal tract. To solve these problems, based on the existing cardiac interventional magnetic navigation system, the MNCE system with a dual-joystick navigation control method is proposed, which can achieve manipulation of the position and posture of the capsule endoscope for the whole gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The maximum workspace of the system has an opening diameter of 480 mm, the control region is a spherical area with a diameter of 200 mm, the magnetic field is 0.15 T, the maximum driving force is 250 mN, and the average inspection speed is 6.4 mm/s. The results of model tests and
ex vivo
experiments demonstrate that the system can generate sufficient force to drive the capsule and achieve the 3-D precision inspection of the GI tract. It also proves the engineering feasibility of the proposed control method, which significantly improves the inspection efficiency and is expected to rapidly promote the system to clinical applications.