Fundamental tests of pneumatic soft devices for pushing abdomen in stomach X-ray examination

This study aims at development of pneumatic soft devices for stomach X-ray examination. Generally stomach X-ray examination can be divided two procedures roughly. One is observation of condition of back-side stomach wall and the other is that of front-side stomach wall. In this paper, two types of soft devices for each examination have been developed. The devices are configured with pneumatic actuators which are radiolucent and soft, and realize compression of the abdomen. Volunteer tests were conducted using actual X-ray apparatus and these devices. The results indicate the potential of the devices to improve the conventional stomach X-ray examination.