Towards A Generic In Vivo In Situ Camera Lens Cleaning Module for Laparoscopic Surgery

This paper proposes a generic cleaning module to address lens fogging and soiling problems for insertable robotic cameras in laparoscopic surgery. The proposed lens cleaning module features minimal intraoperative interruption for surgeons to maintain clear visual field. The technical challenges for developing such a compact modular design involve confining the wiping mechanism within small space, yet delivering sufficient energy for the lens cleaning task. Inspired by thermo-activated phase transformation of shape memory alloy, we develop an effective mesoscale actuation mechanism to overcome the design challenges. A prototype is designed and manufactured for performance evaluation. The design effectiveness was verified by experiments.