Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Miniature Flexible Instrument with Fibre Bragg Grating-Based Triaxial Force Sensing for Intraoperative Gastric Endomicroscopy

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Biomedical Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Optical biopsy methods, such as probe-based endomicroscopy, can be used to identify early-stage gastric cancer in vivo. However, it is difficult to scan a large area of the gastric mucosa for mosaicking during endoscopy. In this work, we propose a miniaturised flexible instrument based on contact-aided compliant mechanisms and fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensing for intraoperative gastric endomicroscopy. The instrument has a compact design with an outer diameter of 2.7 mm, incorporating a central channel with a diameter of 1.9 mm for the endomicroscopic probe to pass through. Experimental results show that the instrument can achieve raster trajectory scanning over a large tissue surface with a positioning accuracy of 0.5 mm. The tip force sensor provides a 4.6 mN resolution for the axial force and 2.8 mN for transverse forces. Validation with random samples shows that the force sensor can provide consistent and accurate three-axis force detection. Endomicroscopic imaging experiments were conducted, and the flexible instrument performed no gap scanning (mosaicking area more than 3 mm2) and contact force monitoring during scanning, demonstrating the potential of the system in clinical applications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Balicki, M., A. Uneri, I. Iordachita, J. Handa, P. Gehlbach, and R. Taylor. Micro-force sensing in robot assisted membrane peeling for vitreoretinal surgery. In: International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention, 2010, pp. 303–310.

  2. Bray, F., J. Ferlay, I. Soerjomataram, R. L. Siegel, L. A. Torre, and A. Jemal. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA. Cancer J. Clin. 68(6):394–424, 2018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Burgner-Kahrs, J., D. C. Rucker, and H. Choset. Continuum robots for medical applications: a survey. IEEE Trans. Robot. 31(6):1261–1280, 2015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chekotu, J. C., R. Groarke, K. O’Toole, and D. Brabazon. Advances in selective laser melting of nitinol shape memory alloy part production. Materials. 12(5):809, 2019.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Cutsem, E. V., X. Sagaert, B. Topal, K. Haustermans, and H. Prenen. Gastric cancer. Lancet. 388(10060):2654–2664, 2016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Erden, M. S., B. Rosa, N. Boularot, B. Gayet, G. Morel, and J. Szewczyk. Conic-Spiraleur: a miniature distal scanner for confocal microlaparoscope. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 19(6):1786–1798, 2014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Giataganas, P., M. Hughes, C. J. Payne, P. Wisanuvej, B. Temelkuran, and G. Z. Yang. Intraoperative robotic-assisted large-area high-speed microscopic imaging and intervention. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 66(1):208–216, 2019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Gong, L., J. Zheng, Z. Ping, Y. Wang, and S. Zuo. Robust mosaicing of endomicroscopic videos via context-weighted correlation ratio. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2020.3007768.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. He, X., J. Handa, T., P. Gehlbach, R. Taylor, and I. Iordachita. A Submillimetric 3-DOF force sensing instrument with integrated fiber bragg grating for retinal microsurgery. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 61(2):522–534, 2014.

  10. Hong, W., L. Xie, J. Liu, Y. Sun, K. Li, and H. Wang. Development of a novel continuum robotic system for maxillary sinus surgery. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 23(3):1226–1237, 2018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kitabatake, S., Y. Niwa, R. Miyahara, A. Ohashi, T. Matsuura, Y. Iguchi, Y. Shimoyama, T. Nagasaka, O. Maeda, T. Ando, N. Ohmiya, A. Itoh, Y. Hirooka, and H. Goto. Confocal endomicroscopy for the diagnosis of gastric cancer in vivo. Endoscopy. 38(11):1110–1114, 2006.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kutzer, M. D. M., S. M. Segreti, C. Y. Brown, R. H. Taylor, M. Armand and S. C. Mears. Design of a new cable-driven manipulator with a large open lumen: Preliminary applications in the minimally-invasive removal of osteolysis. In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2011, pp. 2913–2920.

  13. Latt, W. T., R. C. Newton, M. Visentini-Scarzanella, C. J. Payne, D. P. Noonan, J. Shang, and G. Z. Yang. A hand-held instrument to maintain steady tissue contact during probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 58(9):2694–2703, 2011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Liu, J., B. Hall, M. Frecker, and E. W. Reutzel. Compliant articulation structure using superelastic NiTiNOL. Smart Mater. Struct. 22(9):2013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Luo, M., and L. Li. Clinical utility of miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography for prediction of invasion depth of early gastric cancer: a meta-analysis of diagnostic test from PRISMA guideline. Medicine. 98(6):2019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Miyashita, K., T. O. Vrielink, and G. Mylonas. A cable-driven parallel manipulator with force sensing capabilities for high-accuracy tissue endomicroscopy. Int. J. Comput. Assist. Radiol. 13(5):659–669, 2018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Newton, R. C., S. V. Kemp, G. Z. Yang, D. Ellson, A. Darzi, and P. Shah. Imaging parenchymal lung diseases with confocal endomicroscopy. Respir. Med. 106(1):127–137, 2012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Schmitz, A., Shen. T, P. Berthet-Rayne, and G. Z. Yang. A rolling-tip flexible instrument for minimally invasive surgery. In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2019, pp. 379–385.

  19. Sonn, G. A., S.-N. E. Jones, T. V. Tarin, C. B. Du, K. E. Mach, K. C. Jensen, and J. C. Liao. Optical biopsy of human bladder neoplasia with in vivo confocal laser endomicroscopy. J. Urol. 182(4):1299–1305, 2009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Takahisa, T., I. Okumura, H. Kose, K. Takagiet, and N. Hata. Tendon-driven continuum robot for neuroendoscopy: validation of extended kinematic mapping for hysteresis operation. Int. J. Comput. Assist. Radiol. 11(4):589–602, 2016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Thompson, C. C., M. Ryou, N. J. Soper, E. S. Hungess, R. I. Rothstein, and L. L. Swanstrom. Evaluation of a manually driven, multitasking platform for complex endoluminal and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery applications. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. 70(1):121–125, 2009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Vercauteren, T., A. Meining, F. Lacombe, and A. Perchant. Real time autonomous video image registration for endomicroscopy: fighting the compromises. Biomed. Opt. 6861:68610C, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Wallace, M. B., G. Y. Lauwers, Y. Chen, E. Dekker, P. Fockens, P. Sharma, and A. Meining. Miami classification for probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy. Endoscopy. 43(10):882–891, 2011.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Wang, H., S. Wang, J. Li, and S. Zuo. Robotic scanning device for intraoperative thyroid gland endomicroscopy. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 46(4):543–554, 2018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wisanuvej, P., P. Giataganas, K. Leibrandt, J. Liu, M. Hughes, and G. Z. Yang. Three-dimensional robotic-assisted endomicroscopy with a force adaptive robotic arm. In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2017, pp. 2379–2384.

  26. York, P. A., P. J. Swaney, H. B. Gilbert, and R. J. Webster III. A Wrist for Needle-Sized Surgical Robots. In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2015, pp. 2964–2970.

  27. Zorn, L., F. Nageotte, P. Zanne, A. Legner, B. Dallemagne, J. Marescaux, and M. Mathelin. A novel telemanipulated robotic assistant for surgical endoscopy: preclinical application to esd. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 65(4):797–808, 2018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Zuo, S., M. Hughes, C. Seneci, T. P. Chang, and G. Z. Yang. Towards intraoperative breast endomicroscopy with a novel surface scanning device. IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 62(12):2941–2952, 2015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by National Key R&D Program of China under Grant 2019YFB1311501 and in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61773280.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Zhongyuan Ping, Tianci Zhang, Lun Gong, Chi Zhang & Siyang Zuo

Authors
  1. Zhongyuan Ping
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tianci Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lun Gong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chi Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  5. Siyang Zuo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siyang Zuo.

Additional information

Associate Editor Ka-Wai Kwok oversaw the review of this article.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ping, Z., Zhang, T., Gong, L. et al. Miniature Flexible Instrument with Fibre Bragg Grating-Based Triaxial Force Sensing for Intraoperative Gastric Endomicroscopy. Ann Biomed Eng 49, 2323–2336 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-021-02781-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-021-02781-4

Keywords