Application 177

Endoscope Force Control

Application Summary

Endoscopes allow doctors to see inside the patient to find anomalies during diagnostic, laparoscopic, or exploratory procedures. The movement of these devices are wire driven and provide little to no haptic feedback. This requires extensive training so that the operator can learn to judge applied force visually. Making the controls more intuitive to improve operator fidelity requires a force measurement system that can survive sterilization processes. This involves autoclavable in-line load cells installed inline with the control wires to create a haptic feedback control system for the endoscope.

Products in Use

Two Autoclavable In-line load cells

How it Works

Two autoclavable load cells are installed in-line with the cables controlling the endoscope's motion.
As the endoscope is moved, the load cells measure the force required to move the head.
The force measurement is read by the endoscope's controller allowing it generate the appropriate feedback in the operator's controls.
The load cells are designed to survive the high pressure, temperature, and PH sterilization environments needed to meet ISO/TC 198 standards and IP69K rating.
Load cell data captured by instrumentation can then be repurposed to further refine controls and used for traceability requirements.