Preliminary experimental results and modeling for a four degree of freedom automated traction measurement platform for quantitative evaluation of in vivo robotic capsule colonoscopy mobility effectiveness

In this work an overview of in vivo robotic capsule colonoscopy (RCC) is given, followed by the introduction of a mobility method for a RCC using micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The design of a four degree of freedom (DOF) automated traction measurement (ATM) platform for quantitative evaluation of the mobility method is presented. An empirical model for traction force as a function of slip ratio, robot speed and robot weight for micro-patterned PDMS on synthetic tissue is developed using data collected from the ATM platform. The model is then used to predict traction force at different speeds and weights, and is verified experimentally. The mean percent error between the empirical model and the data used to develop the model is 2.1% (min 0.051%, max 6.5%). The mean error between the traction force predicted by the model and the data used to verify the prediction is 5.9% (min 0.0035%, max 21%). The results from this study will play a key role in further RCC mobility system optimization going forward.