Colloquia

Summary

Endoscopy is a minimally invasive medical procedure where a flexible tube is inserted inside the body to examine the interiors of organs or cavities. These procedures are used for visual inspection or in some cases for interventions without the need for major surgeries. Robotic endoscopy refers to the usage of robotic systems in the endoscopic procedure. The guidance of robotic endoscopes plays a major role in endoscopy procedures due to their inherent difficulty in navigating and controlling them precisely. These endoscopes are guided using various techniques such as magnetic control, wireless capsules, ultrasonic guidance, automated navigation systems, etc. This thesis primarily concentrates on designing an external magnetic guidance system using permanent magnets. The external system can guide a magnetic endoscope using the magnetic fields that it generates, which helps in navigating the endoscope. The efficiency of this external system depends on the strength, direction, and uniformity of the field generated by this system. Identification and optimization of the various parameters influencing the magnetic properties of this system is the main objective of this work. 

In this project, the magnetic interactions are analyzed using a multiple-dipole model. This model provides a more precise estimation of the magnetic field and force when compared to the single dipole model. This model is used to model the permanent magnets of the external guidance system. The field generated by the external guidance system plays an important role in navigating the magnetic endoscope. This field is influenced by many factors such as the number of magnets in the external system and the configuration and orientation of the permanent magnets. These parameters are carefully considered and optimized to generate the required forces on the endoscopy head. The external system with these optimized parameters is able to generate a uni-directional strong magnetic field to guide the magnetic endoscopy head. 

A system with optimized parameters is designed and experiments are conducted. The experiments demonstrate successful and efficient guidance of the magnetic endoscopic head using the external magnetic guidance system as intended. These experiments not only validate the practical applications of this designed system but also demonstrate its proficiency in guiding the endoscope. Overall, this work illustrates the development and validation of an optimized external magnetic guidance system that can navigate magnetic endoscopes.