Minimally invasive robotic surgery techniques are becoming popular thanks to their enhanced patient benefits, including shorter recovery time, better cosmetic results and reduced discomforts. Less invasive procedures would be achieved with the use of Medical Capsule Robots (MCRs). These devices are characterized by low power requirements and small dimensions as well as uncompromising safety. MCRs operate wirelessly in abdominal Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) and Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) or in the Gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The design process of MCRs, however, is expensive and time consuming. A platform for rapid prototyping MCRs is needed so that MCR researchers can reduce development costs and spend more time in studying innovative MCR applications. In this work, we introduce an open source modular platform geared toward rapid prototyping MCRs. To speed up the prototyping process, the MCR is programmed using TinyOS instead of bare-bone C. We present the hardware architecture of the platform, and the motivation for using TinyOS. To show the viability of TinyOS, we present results from an experiment involving sensing, actuation and wireless communication. This work lays the foundation for our future goal of building an integrated design environment for the design, analysis and simulation of MCRs.

Minimally invasive surgical techniques are becoming popular due to their enhanced patient benefits. Less invasive procedures can be achieved with the use of wireless Medical Capsule Robots (MCRs). MCRs are low powered and small in size and can be used for physiological parameter monitoring, therapy delivery, and biopsy sampling. Designing MCRs from the ground up is a costly and time consuming process. In this work, we present a flexible modular architecture to facilitate the design of MCRs and propose using TinyOS as the operating system. To assess the architecture and validate the feasibility of TinyOS, we implement a closed-loop control of a sensor-actuator system and compare the results with a traditional MCR built based on an 8051 microcontroller (MCU) programmed in plain C. Similar performances from the two approaches lead us to conclude that TinyOS is a valid option to implement a modular architecture for designing MCRs.

Miniaturization of sensors and actuators up to the point of active features in endoscopic capsules, such as locomotion or surgery, is a challenge. VECTOR endoscopic capsule has been designed to be the first endoscopic capsule with active locomotion. It is equipped with mini-legs driven by Brushless DC (BLDC) micro motors. In addition it can be also equipped with some other sensors and actuators, like a liquid lens, that permits to enable advanced functions. Those modules are managed by an ASIC specifically designed for the VECTOR capsule. The ASIC is a complete System-On-Chip (SoC) and integrates all the electronics needed to enable the legged locomotion and the sensing and actuating functions of the capsule in an unique chip. The SoC also enables other functions for endoscopic capsules such as drug delivery and a biopsy system. The size of the SoC is 5.1 mm × 5.2 mm in a 0.35 um high voltage CMOS technology.

Miniaturization of sensors and actuators up to the point of active features in endoscopic capsules, such as locomotion or surgery, is a challenge. VECTOR endoscopic capsule has been designed to be the first endoscopic capsule with active locomotion. It is equipped with mini-legs driven by Brushless DC (BLDC) micro motors. In addition it can be also equipped with some other sensors and actuators, like a liquid lens, that permits to enable advanced functions. Those modules are managed by an ASIC specifically designed for the VECTOR capsule. The ASIC is a complete System-On-Chip (SoC) and integrates all the electronics needed to enable the legged locomotion and the sensing and actuating functions of the capsule in an unique chip. The SoC also enables other functions for endoscopic capsules such as drug delivery and a biopsy system. The size of the SoC is 5.1 mm × 5.2 mm in a 0.35 um high voltage CMOS technology.

In this paper, a reconfigurable modular robotic system is proposed to augment the dexterity of endoluminal interventions in the gastrointestinal tract. In the proposed system, miniaturized robotic modules are ingested and assembled in the stomach cavity. The assembled robot can change its configuration according to the target location, thus enabling complicated surgical tasks. The robotic assembly, the robotic configuration and the surgical tasks are controlled via wireless bidirectional communication. Based on this concept, early prototypes of the robotic modules were designed and fabricated. The developed module has 2DOF (±90° of bending and 360° of rotation), measures 15.4 mm in diameter and 36.5 mm in length. It weighs 5.6 g and contains a Li-Po battery, two brushless DC motors, and a custom-made control board capable of wireless communication. The performance of the bending and rotational motion was evaluated and the future work has been discussed.