The development of an automated robotic colonoscope

Abstract

Inspection and treatment of the colon cancer is carried out using a non-invasive procedure known as colonoscopy. Presently, colonoscopy is done manually which requires the endoscopists to perform the tedious task of maneuvering the scope through the colon. In order to relieve the surgeon's workload and to reduce the discomfort of the patient, an automated colonoscopy procedure was proposed. Objectives of this project are to control the movement of the colonoscope, and to develop a graphical user interface (GUI) for the proposed system. Some functions provided by the GUI include the display and processing of the captured images. In addition, a motion control panel is incorporated within the GUI to manipulate the various gait sequences of the robot.