The complex anatomy of internal luminal organs, like bronchioles, poses challenges for endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT). These challenges include limited steerability for targeted imaging and nonuniform rotation distortion (NURD) with proximal scanning. Using rotary micromotors for distal scanning could address NURD but raises concerns about electrical safety and costs.
We present pneumaOCT, the first pneumatic OCT endoscope, comprising a steerable catheter with a soft pneumatic actuator and an imaging probe with a miniature pneumatic turbine. With a diameter of 2.8 mm, pneumaOCT allows for a bending angle of up to 237ยฐ, facilitating navigation through narrow turns. The pneumatic turbine enables adjustable imaging speeds from 51 to 446 revolutions per second. We demonstrate the pneumaOCT in vivo imaging of mouse esophagus and colon, as well as targeted and distortion-free imaging of peripheral bronchioles in a bronchial phantom and a porcine lung. This advancement substantially improves endoscopic OCT for navigational imaging in curved and narrow lumens.
In the future, we will further develop an autonomous pneumaOCT endoscopy system by integrating an automated external robotic system, navigation guidance (such as x-ray imaging or MRI), and intelligent sensing and control algorithms. This advancement will have a substantial impact on the development of robotic endoscopy techniques in complex clinical practice.
For more details, please find the paper at https://lnkd.in/gtcM7v7p
This is collaborative work between LabREN (http://www.labren.org/), ABI Lab (https://lnkd.in/gUuzQqDt) and Department of Surgery, CUHK. Congrats to all authors: Tinghua Zhang, Sishen YUAN, Chao Xu, Peng Liu, Hing-Chiu Chang, Sze Hang Calvin Ng, Hongliang Ren, and Wu ‘Scott’ YUAN.
