A Novel Biopsy Capsule Endoscope for Wireless Intestinal Tissue Collection

A novel wireless biopsy capsule endoscopic method is presented in this study. The developed biopsy endoscope can be actively controlled during investigation process and collect tissue sample at suspicious target lesion. The novel capsule endoscope consists of a permanent magnet, a micro biopsy punch module, and an external electromagnetic actuation system. A pill-shape prototype of capsule endoscope with biopsy device is manufacture with dimension of 12 mm in diameter and 32 mm in length. By controlling the external electro-magnetic actuation, we can create the targeting locomotion and biopsy operation for capsule endoscope. The interactions between controllable magnetic field of electromagnetic actuation system and permanent magnet inside capsule body enables the micro-biopsy module be able to extrude out of capsule body for tissue collection operation. The collected biopsy tissue had volume of about 5 mm
³
, which is sufficient for histological analysis. Experiments are conducted to measure force, controllability of biopsy module in ex-vivo. The feasibility of locomotion, targeting and biopsy procedure are also provided.