An Active Bending Endoscope using Smart Materials

Bipin Sankar, Neenu Joseph

Abstract: Actual endoscopes which are used in industry and in minimal invasive surgery, have certain demerits, mainly due to their minimal mobility. The technical constraints for this kind of application are space constraints and torque and angular constraints. The primary solution consists of a two degree of freedom structure driven by two pairs of antagonist shape memory alloy wires. The dimensions and preloading for such actuators follow an analytical approach. A perfect solution to this problem is realizing endoscopes driven through smart materials integrated actuators. The possibility of using nanomaterials in endoscopy and other medical applications is yet to be explored in depth and provides a vast platform of opportunities and research. Nanomaterial based instruments have become vital in generating images of high resolution and high contrast which are very much needed in precision diagnostics and surgical operations. The principle of smart materials actuation, combined with an initial approach to their design, control and materials used and proposed material alternatives is presented in this paper.

Keywords: Endoscope, Shape Memory Alloys, Actuation, Design, Materials