Semi-automatic Knob System for Assisting Flexible Endoscope Steering
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ISSN:1598-6446 eISSN:2005-4092 http://www.springer.com/12555
Semi-automatic Knob System for Assisting Flexible Endoscope Steering Hyun-Soo Yoon and Byung-Ju Yi* Abstract: In this paper, a semi-automatic knob system for assisting control of flexible endoscope is introduced. For conventional flexible endoscope, the torque to bend the bending part is increased proportionally to the curvature of the insertion tube. As the bending angle increases, the required torque is increased. This characteristic makes a surgeon tired. The proposed semi-automatic knob system consists of a knob controller, a power generation unit, and a bending part. The knob controller includes four FSR (force sensitive resistor) sensors to measure external force applied by the operator. The power generation unit generates the power depending on the signal level of FSR sensors. Using the semi-automatic knob system, a user can control the steering of the flexible endoscope with less power as compared to conventional flexible endoscope. The usefulness of the proposed system is verified through experiments. Keywords: Admittance control, colonoscopy, colorectal surgeon-assistant system, flexible endoscope steering.
1.
INTRODUCTION
A distal end of conventional flexible endoscope is equipped with a camera, and in order to observe and track the target lesion, a bending part that can be bent in the vertical and horizontal directions is connected to the distal end as shown in Fig. 1. The knob controller of the flexible endoscope system consists of two position control wheels and two locking devices for fastening each wheel. By us-
Fig. 1. Knob controller of conventional flexible endoscope.
ing each position control wheel, the bending part attached at the distal end is bent, and the distal end can be located in the desired position. Accordingly, the lesion can be easily observed. In addition to the position control wheels, the knob controller includes an injection button for cleaning the camera, a suction button for removing corpus alienum, and a freeze button for image storage. Since about 20% of surgeons manipulate the knob controller by using both hands, they need assistants to handle so many buttons in the knob controller [1, 2]. Because of this complexity, some surgeons control only one wheel of the knob controller with one hand and keep the other wheel fixed [3]. The torque to bend the bending part of a conventional flexible endoscope is increased proportionally to the curvature of the insertion tube. As the bending angle increases, the required torque is increased. This characteristic makes the surgeons tired. In addition, repetitive positioning task increases the fatigue of surgeons. Thus the colonoscopist’s concentration on treatment is decreased by the accumulated fatigue in long-term diagnosis [4]. In addition, a number of colorectal surgeons are encountering injury from colonoscopy [1]. Musculoskeletal injury occurs more commonly among gastroenterologists than
Manuscript received April 1, 2019; revised September 23, 2019 and January 2, 2020
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