A Miniature Flexible Scanning Device for Gastrointestinal Endomicroscopy

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Gastroenterology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) provides real-time optical biopsy for early gastrointestinal cancer detection.
• Current pCLE technology has a limited field-of-view, hindering comprehensive scanning of cancerous areas.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel flexible scanning device for expansive imaging in gastrointestinal cancer diagnosis.
• To overcome the field-of-view limitations of existing pCLE systems.

Main Methods:

• A 4 degree-of-freedom flexible scanning device with a 3 mm outer diameter and 2.2 mm working channel was designed.
• The device achieved high positioning accuracy in yaw, pitch, linear, and rotational movements.

Main Results:

• Ex vivo tissue scanning covered an area of 11.4 mm².
• In vivo animal studies demonstrated successful scanning and mosaicking of a 5.05 mm² area.

Conclusions:

• The developed device is compatible with endomicroscopic probes and optimizes endoscope deployment.
• Mechanical evaluations and scanning experiments confirm the device's clinical potential for gastrointestinal cancer diagnosis.