Endoscope Shaft-Rigidity Control Mechanism: “FORGUIDE”
- 10 November 2011
- journal article
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
- Vol. 59 (2), 542-551
- https://doi.org/10.1109/tbme.2011.2175730
Abstract
Recent developments in flexible endoscopy and other fields of medical technology have raised the need for compact slender shafts that can be made rigid and compliant at will. A novel compact mechanism, named FORGUIDE, with this functionality was developed. The FORGUIDE shaft rigidifies due to friction between a ring of cables situated between a spring and an inflated tube. A mathematical model for the FORGUIDE mechanism working principle was made and used to obtain understanding of this mechanism, predict the maximum rigidity of a FORGUIDE shaft design, and tune its design variables. The mathematical model gave suggestions for significant performance improvement by fine-tuning the design. A prototype FORGUIDE shaft was built and put to a series of bench tests. These tests showed that the FORGUIDE mechanism provides a reliable and simple way to control the rigidity of a flexible shaft.Keywords
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