Kinematic analysis of in-vivo robot for stomach biopsy

Abstract

Biopsy and abdominal cavity exploration are performed by endoscopes. Traditional endoscopes are having 4 degrees of freedom (DOF) which creates a deficiency in viewing during the cavity exploration. In order to tackle this deficiency a 4 DOF hyper redudant In-Vivo robot has been designed. The robot can be inserted to one of the existing tool channel of the endoscope and can play a vital role for abdominal cavity exploartion and for taking biopsy. Unlike the traditional biopsy tool the present design will enhance the dexeterity due to its 4 DOFs in addition to the enodoscope's degrees of freedom. The design minimizes the constraining effects of the trocar due to the insertion through esophagus. Main body of the robot arm consists of three links attached with the coupler at the end and then to the flexible shaft. The endoscope tube will be stationed at the entry to the stomach in the esophagus and the robotic arm will be moved to the desired position in stomach for biopsy and exploration. The current robotic arm posses better maneuverability. The kinematic analysis of the proposed robotic arm is being presented in this paper. © 2012 Springer India Pvt. Ltd.