Robotic capsule endoscope for minimally invasive surgical procedures, micro-patterned treads for friction enhancement of a robotic capsule endoscope in a biological environment, and process for fabrication of micro-treads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9339169-B2
Application number	US-201213692743-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2012
Priority date	Dec 3, 2011
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

Micro-patterned treads for endoscopes are disclosed. In an embodiment, the treads include a micro-patterned surface and a roller engaging surface. Micro-patterned tread bearing robotic capsule endoscopes are disclosed. In one embodiment, the endoscope includes a housing, a motor, a geared drive, rollers, and at least one micro-patterned tread. Methods of fabricating closed loop treads are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method includes forming a solid layer of PDMS on one side of double-sided tape and wrapping a micro-patterned PDMS strip together with the other side of the double-sided tape. In another embodiment, a method includes forming a timing belt PDMS strip on one side of double-sided tape and a micro-patterned PDMS strip together with the other side of the double-sided tape.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A micro-patterned tread for a robotic capsule endoscope, the micro-patterned tread comprising:
a first side and a second side of the micro-patterned treat tread, the first side and the second side in opposition to one another;
a micro-patterned surface disposed on the first side in a direction extending outwardly from the second side;
a roller engaging surface disposed on the second side in a direction extending outwardly from the first side;
a first layer having the first side with the micro-patterned surface thereon, the first layer including a molded surface and a non-molded surface in opposition to one another, the molded surface including PDMS molded to form the micro-pattern surface, wherein the first layer is formed in a first mold;
a second layer having the second side with the roller engaging surface thereon, the second layer including a molded surface and a non-molded surface in opposition to one another, the molded surface including PDMS molded to form the roller engaging surface, wherein the second layer is formed within a second mold; and
an adhesive configured to join the first layer and the second layer together with the non-molded surface of the first layer and the non-molded surface of the second layer joined together so as to dispose the first side and the second side in opposition to one another.

2. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the tread has a micro-pattern of pillars with a diameter of about 140 μm.

3. The tread of claim 2 , wherein the pillars of the tread have a height of 70 μm.

4. The tread of claim 3 , wherein the pillars of the tread are circular.

5. The tread of claim 4 , wherein the pillars of the tread are equally spaced with a center-to-center distance of 245 μm.

6. The tread of claim 2 , wherein the pillars of the tread are circular.

7. The tread of claim 2 , wherein the pillars of the tread are square.

8. The tread of claim 2 , wherein the pillars of the tread are diamond.

9. The tread of claim 2 , wherein the pillars of the tread are equally spaced with a center-to-center distance of 245 μm.

10. The tread of claim 9 , wherein the pillars of the tread form gaps of a distance of about 105 μm therebetween.

11. The tread of claim 2 , wherein the pillars of the tread form a gap to diameter ratio of about 0.75.

12. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the tread has a micro-pattern of pillars with each pillar having a diameter of less than 200 μm.

13. The tread of claim 12 , wherein the pillars have a height to width aspect ratio of 1:2.

14. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the tread has a micro-pattern of pillars with each pillar having a height of about 70 μm.

15. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the pillars have a height to width aspect ratio of 1:2.

16. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the pillars have a height to width aspect ratio within a range of about 1:4 to about 2:1.

17. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the first side comprises PDMS.

18. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the second side comprises PDMS.

19. The tread of claim 1 , wherein the second side comprises a smooth layer of PDMS configured to frictionally engage rollers of the robotic capsule endoscope.

20. The tread of claim 1 , further comprising a titanium layer disposed on the non-molded surface of the first layer.

21. The tread of claim 20 , wherein the adhesive comprises a double sided tape between the titanium layer and the non molded surface of the second layer.

22. The tread of claim 20 , wherein the second side of the tread includes a timing belt and wherein the timing belt is configured to engage timing pulleys of the robotic capsule endoscope.

23. The tread of claim 1 , further comprising a tread seam configured to join opposing ends of the tread to one another so as to form a continuous surface along the first side and a continuous surface along the second side.

Assignees

• Univ Colorado Regents
• Univ Colorado Regents

Inventors

• Rentschler Mark Edwin
• Sliker Levin John
• Terry Benjamin Spencer
• Kern Madalyn Diane
• Schoen Jonathan

Classifications

• A61B1/00156 Primary

  using self propulsion · CPC title

• B32B3/30

  characterised by a layer formed with recesses or projections, e.g. {hollows, grooves, protuberances, ribs (apertured layer B32B3/266; layer with cavities or internal voids B32B3/26)} · CPC title

• Y10T428/24479

  including variation in thickness · CPC title

• B32B2255/10

  on synthetic resin layer or on natural or synthetic rubber layer · CPC title

• A61B1/0016

  using motor drive units · CPC title