Soft Robotic Gastroscope for Low/Middle-Income Countries: Design and Preliminary Validation

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Abstract
To reduce incidence and mortality, screening of the gastric cavity is crucial to diagnose early-stage cancers. Most cases are concentrated in low/ middle-income countries (LMICs), where medical resources are limited. In this paper, we propose a miniaturized, disposable, and low-cost soft robotic gastroscope designed for screening in LMICs. The robotic platform is composed of i) a frontal soft-core module, ii) a flexible multi-lumen tether, and iii) an intuitive control handle, to provide a) a 180 deg bending angle, b) a 360 deg axial rotation, and c) linear movements with a 15 mm fine adjustment. Due to a single internal bending chamber, the diameter of the soft-core module and the tether are reduced to 7.2 mm and 4.3 mm, respectively. Mechanical performance, operational functionalities, and clinical dependability were successfully evaluated through in-vitro and ex-vivo experiments. In summary, given i) low-cost (i.e., 25 USD), ii) low invasiveness, iii) high portability, and iv) intuitive control, the disposable soft gastroscope might have considerable clinical potential for widening gastric cancer screening in LMICs.
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC51721003)
  • China Scholarship Council (CSC) for his study at Scuola Superiore Sant–Anna, Pisa, Italy

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