Design and Evaluation of A New Push-type Targeted Drug Delivery Capsule Robot

Abstract

Capsule endoscope robot is a new technology for the diagnosis and treatment of digestive tract diseases, which is painless and low invasive. However, the functions of capsule robots are mainly focused on diagnosis, and there are few studies on targeted drug delivery. This paper presents a new type of push-type capsule robot. The robot is 44mm long and has a diameter of 19mm. It is internally equipped with a piston, spring, drug compartment and magnetic lock. Through theoretical analysis of thrust and drug ejection speed, the drug can be sprayed to the uppermost end of the gastrointestinal wall in consideration of the drug resistance as its own gravity. When the external driving frequency is between 12 Hz and 14 Hz, the magnetic lock of the robot will be released, and the piston is squeezed out of the drug chamber by the combination of the spring force and the attraction of the magnet, and the drug is released to the lesion through the medicine outlet. The flexibility of this robot to deliver drugs has been proven in experiments and will soon be available for treatment.