Measuring and imaging of a soft-bodied swallowing robot conduit deformation and internal structural change using videofluoroscopy

This paper presents a new method with which to characterize a soft-boded swallowing robot. The conduit deformation and internal structural changes are recorded by videofluoroscopy scanning. Metal markers are embedded into the esophageal wall to indicate the boundary of the conduit under X-ray. Two sets of experiments are carried out on the swallowing robot: fixed pressure and dry swallows, to explore the device response to changed chamber pressures. Both chamber area size and conduit displacement were measured and then analysed though a image processing software, called ImageJ. The conduit deformation is also profiled using curve fitting technique with the data obtained from imaging process. The experimental results validate the application of videofluoroscopy and ImagaJ for measuring and imaging the conduit's deformation of the swallowing robot, from which reasonable explanations and meaningful predictions of chamber deformation were made. This information is important for pressure trajectory generation and the construction of suitable sensors for future study.