Proceeding of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS
Doi
Abstract
Capsule endoscopy (CE) can be considered an
example of “disruptive technology” since it represents a bright
alternative to traditional diagnostic methodologies. If compared
with traditional endoscopy, bowel cleansing procedure in CE
becomes of greater importance, due to the impossibility to
intraoperatively operate on unclean gastrointestinal tract areas.
Considering the promising results and benefits obtained in the
field of CE for gastrointestinal diagnosis and intervention, the
authors approached the bowel cleansing issue with the final aim
to propose an innovative and easy-to-use intraoperative
cleansing system to be applied to an active locomotion softlytethered
capsule device, already developed by the authors. The
system, that has to be intended as an additional tool for
intraoperatively cleansing procedure of the colonic tract, is
composed by a flexible tube with a metallic deflector attached
to the distal end; it can be headed to the target area through the
capsule operating channel. Performances of the colonoscopic
capsule and intraoperative cleansing capabilities were
successfully confirmed both in an in-vitro and ex-vivo
experimental session. The innovative intraoperative cleansing
system demonstrated promising results in terms of water
injection, colonic wall cleansing procedure and subsequent
water suction, thus guaranteeing to reduce the risk of
inadequate visualization of the mucosa in endoscopic
procedures