Intestinal Tattooing Mechanism Integrated with Active Wireless Capsule Endoscope

Recently, a wireless capsule endoscope with active locomotion has become an effective endoscopic method for diagnosis and treatment of diseases of gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Various modules such as biopsy and drug delivery were developed for the wireless capsule endoscope (WCE) to extend its application. In this paper, we present a marking module socalled tattooing module for WCE to localize the lesions and tumors in digestive organs before the laparoscopic surgery. The WCE with tattooing module is manipulated by an Electromagnetic Actuation (EMA) system, where a moderate magnetic field intensity is generated to drive the WCE reaching to a target of the digestive organs. The tattooing module is capable of stowing the needle inside the WCE's body to avoid pathway organs damage during locomotion and extruding to puncture the target for tattooing. The magnetic field is controlled to activate the micro-reed switch and triggers a chemical reaction that generates gas pressure. The produced gas increases the pressure in the propellant room and pushes the piston to eject the ink into the target. The prototype of the tattooing capsule endoscope is fabricated with dimension of 13 mm in diameter and 33 mm in length. The working principle and the mechanism of the tattooing module are suggested and the feasibility test with the prototype is demonstrated through in-vitro experiments.