A Review of Localization Systems for Robotic Endoscopic Capsules

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering Vol. 59; no. 9; pp. 2387 - 2399
• Main Authors: Than, Trung Duc, Alici, Gursel, Zhou, Hao, Li, Weihua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.09.2012; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Capsule Endoscopes; Capsule Endoscopy; Coils; Computer science; control theory; systems; Control theory. Systems; Digestive system. Abdomen; Electromagnetic Fields; Endoscopy; Exact sciences and technology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Localization; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic fields; Magnetic flux; Magnetic moments; Magnetic noise; Medical sciences; microrobots; Robotics; Superconducting magnets; tracking; wireless capsule endoscope (WSE); Capsule endoscopy; wireless capsule endoscope (WSE); Wireless telecommunication; Capsule; Review; Localization; tracking; Robotics; Biomedical engineering; microrobots
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2012.2201715

Obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, Crohn disease, Celiac disease, small bower tumors, and other disorders that occur in the GI tract have always been challenging to be diagnosed and treated due to the inevitable difficulty in accessing such a complex environment within the human body. With the invention of wireless capsule endoscope, the next generation of the traditional cabled endoscope, not only a dream has come true for the patients who have experienced a great discomfort and unpleasantness caused by the conventional endoscopic method, but also a new research field has been opened to develop a complete miniature robotic device that is swallowable and has full functions of diagnosis and treatment of the GI diseases. However, such an ideal device needs to be equipped with a highly accurate localization system to be able to exactly determine the location of lesions in the GI tract and provide essential feedback to an actuation mechanism controlling the device's movement. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the localization systems for robotic endoscopic capsules, for which the motivation, challenges, and possible solutions of the proposed localization methods are also discussed.