Distal end of flexible bronchoscope using fiber reinforced soft actuator

Abstract

Flexible bronchoscope (FOB) is a medical intervention instrument that provide distal end bending capability for inspecting respiratory airways. Although the use of the FOB is considered to be safe and easier, there are a major complication called pneumothorax which is a lesion on the surface of the respiratory airways that causes air leakage in the respiratory system due to the extreme movement o f the distal end of the FOB. The bronchoscopist must also manually rotate the whole body o f the flexible tube to do rotation movement. On the other side, research on fiber reinforced soft actuator (FRSA) becomes a prospective opportunity for development in medical devices and soft robotics. So, the objectives of this research are to develop a novel distal end o f the FOB prototype that minimize the risk of pneumothorax by providing local rotation in the novel distal end of the FOB and apply soft actuator mechanism in the development of distal end of the FOB. The concept of the system is a distal end of the FOB that provide smooth motion bend, soft material, and local rotation by using FRSA mechanism. A simulation was conducted using finite element analysis software which compared by type of fiber angles, fiber amount, and material. Prototype fabrication was also conducted using Rapid Prototyping Software and Computed Numerical Control Machine. The In-Vitro Experimental Setup consist of deformation angle measurement, bending force measurement, and functional testing using respiratory airways phantom. The testing result showed the prototype is able to bend 90° to the right, 89° to the left and 166° to rotate. The simulation and experiment similarity was 75.7% for right, 82.5% for the left, and 85.7% for the rotation. The maximum force that produced from the bending movement was 0.2 N which able to minimize the occurrence of pneumothorax. By in-vitro test, the prototype also able to inspect and manuver inside the respiratory airways.