Soft robots can provide advantages for medical interventions given their low cost and their ability to change shape and safely apply forces to tissue. This article explores the potential for their use for endoscopically-guided balloon dilation procedures in the airways. A scalable robot design based on balloon catheter technology is proposed, which is composed of five balloons together with a tip-mounted camera and LED. Its design parameters are optimized with respect to the clinical requirements associated with balloon dilation procedures in the trachea and bronchi. Possessing a lumen to allow for respiration and powered by the pressure and vacuum sources found in a clinical procedure room, the robot is teleoperated through the airways using a game controller and real-time video from the tip-mounted camera. The robot design includes proximal and distal bracing balloons that expand radially to produce traction forces. The distal bracing balloon is also used to perform balloon dilation. Three actuation balloons, located between the bracing balloons, produce elongation and bending of the robot body to enable locomotion and turning. An analysis of the actuation balloons, which incorporate helical coils to prevent radial collapse, provides design formulas by relating geometric parameters to such performance criteria as maximum change in actuator length and maximum robot bending angle. Experimental evaluation of a prototype robot inside rigid plastic tubes and ex vivo porcine airways is used to demonstrate the potential of the approach.

中文翻译：

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用于气道手术的软机器人球囊内窥镜

软机器人可以为医疗干预提供优势，因为它们成本低廉，并且能够改变形状并安全地向组织施加力。本文探讨了它们在内窥镜引导下气道球囊扩张手术中的应用潜力。提出了一种基于球囊导管技术的可扩展机器人设计，该机器人由五个球囊以及尖端安装的摄像头和 LED 组成。其设计参数根据与气管和支气管球囊扩张手术相关的临床要求进行了优化。该机器人具有允许呼吸的内腔，并由临床手术室中的压力和真空源提供动力，可使用游戏控制器和来自尖端安装摄像头的实时视频通过气道进行远程操作。机器人设计包括近端和远端支撑球囊，它们径向膨胀以产生牵引力。远端支撑球囊也用于进行球囊扩张。位于支撑气球之间的三个致动气球使机器人身体产生伸长和弯曲，以实现运动和转弯。对包含螺旋线圈以防止径向塌陷的致动气球进行分析，通过将几何参数与致动器长度的最大变化和最大机器人弯曲角度等性能标准相关联，提供设计公式。对刚性塑料管和离体猪气道内的原型机器人进行实验评估，以证明该方法的潜力。