EngineeringMedicine

Massimiliano Simi, G. Gerboni, A. Menciassi, P. Valdastri

2013.12.1JOURNAL OF MEDICAL DEVICES-TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME

DOI: 10.1115/1.4025185

tlooto Summary

A novel magnetomechanical elastic element that can be loaded remotely by varying the magnetic field surrounding it and that is able to store and release mechanical energy upon external triggering is presented.

Abstract

The authors present a novel magnetomechanical elastic element that can be loaded remotely by varying the magnetic field surrounding it and that is able to store and release mechanical energy upon external triggering. The magnetic torsion spring (MTS) is used as the core component of a self-contained miniature biopsy capsule (9 mm in diameter and 24 mm long) for random tissue sampling in the small bowel. Thanks to the MTS concept, the biopsy mechanism can be loaded wirelessly by a magnetic field applied from outside the body of the patient. At the same time, magnetic coupling guarantees stabilization against the small bowel tissue during sampling. Extreme miniaturization is possible with the proposed approach since no electronics and no power supply are required onboard.

Citation format

SIMI, Massimiliano, et al. Magnetic torsion spring mechanism for a wireless biopsy capsule. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL DEVICES-TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME, 2013, 7: 041009.