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Updated: Jun 16, 2025

Flexible Colonoscopy in Mice to Evaluate the Severity of Colitis and Colorectal Tumors Using a Validated Endoscopic Scoring System
Published on: October 16, 2013
A Miniature Flexible Scanning Device for Gastrointestinal Endomicroscopy
Xingfeng Xu1, Jianshuo Liu1, Siyang Zuo1
1Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Background:
Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) offers real-time optical biopsy of the gastrointestinal mucosa, promising early detection of gastrointestinal cancer. However, its limited field-of-view necessitates a flexible device for expansive scanning and mosaicking of cancerous regions.
Methods:
This work presents a novel 4 degree-of-freedom flexible scanning device with a 3 mm outer diameter and a 2.2 mm working channel. The positioning accuracy of the scanning mechanism was recorded as 3.94° in yaw, 4.23° in pitch, 0.17 mm in linear, and 0.69 mm in rotational motions.
Results:
Ex vivo tissue scanning achieved an area of 11.4 mm2. In vivo animal experimental results revealed the device's capacity to scan and mosaic an area of 5.05 mm2.
Conclusions:
This design is compatible with endomicroscopic probes and optimises the endoscope deployment. Comprehensive mechanical evaluations and scanning experiments demonstrated the device's clinical potential in gastrointestinal cancer diagnosis.
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