Design of A Novel Biopsy Capsule Robot with Anchoring Function for Intestinal Tract

This paper presents a biopsy capsule robot with anchoring function inside the intestinal tract. The proposed biopsy capsule consists of three modules: biopsy module, anchoring module and decouple-drive module. The design of the biopsy module and anchoring module is based on the eccentric cam mechanism and ratchet mechanism. The structure design and motion analysis of the biopsy mechanism and anchoring mechanism is presented. The designed decouple-drive module consists of two parts: a magnetic-drive shaft and two elastic-pawls. Benefiting from the combination of the elastic-pawls on the decouple-drive module and the ratchets on the two function modules (i.e. biopsy and anchoring module), the two function modules can be driven by a single actuator, which can further help reduce the size of biopsy capsule robots and achieve miniaturization. The design concept and working principles of the proposed biopsy capsule are introduced in this paper and are verified by a prototype with the diameter of 16mm and length of 24mm that successfully integrates the three modules.