A capsule robot uses magnetic control and microultrasound feedback for in situ autonomous positioning and diagnostics of microanatomy. Diagnostic endoscopy in the gastrointestinal tract has remained largely unchanged for decades and is limited to the visualization of the tissue surface, the collection of biopsy samples for diagnoses, and minor interventions such as clipping or tissue removal. In this work, we present the autonomous servoing of a magnetic capsule robot for in situ, subsurface diagnostics of microanatomy. We investigated and showed the feasibility of closed-loop magnetic control using digitized microultrasound (μUS) feedback; this is crucial for obtaining robust imaging in an unknown and unconstrained environment. We demonstrated the functionality of an autonomous servoing algorithm that uses μUS feedback, both on benchtop trials and in vivo in a porcine model. We have validated this magnetic μUS servoing in instances of autonomous linear probe motion and were able to locate markers in an agar phantom with 1.0 ± 0.9 mm position accuracy using a fusion of robot localization and μUS image information. This work demonstrates the feasibility of closed-loop robotic μUS imaging in the bowel without the need for either a rigid physical link between the transducer and extracorporeal tools or complex manual manipulation.

中文翻译：

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胃肠超声智能磁操控。


胶囊机器人使用磁控制和微超声反馈进行原位自主定位和显微解剖诊断。胃肠道的诊断内窥镜检查几十年来基本上没有变化，仅限于组织表面的可视化、收集活检样本以进行诊断以及诸如夹闭或组织切除等较小的干预措施。在这项工作中，我们展示了磁性胶囊机器人的自主伺服，用于显微解剖学的原位、地下诊断。我们研究并展示了使用数字化微超声（μUS）反馈进行闭环磁控制的可行性；这对于在未知和不受约束的环境中获得稳定的成像至关重要。我们在台式试验和猪模型体内展示了使用 μUS 反馈的自主伺服算法的功能。我们已经在自主线性探针运动的情况下验证了这种磁性 μUS 伺服，并且能够利用机器人定位和 μUS 图像信息的融合以 1.0 ± 0.9 mm 的位置精度在琼脂体模中定位标记。这项工作证明了闭环机器人 μUS 肠道成像的可行性，无需换能器和体外工具之间的刚性物理连接或复杂的手动操作。