Abstract
Capsule endoscopy is a promising technique for diagnosing diseases in the digestive system. Here we design and characterize a miniature swimming mechanism that uses the magnetic fields of the MRI for both propulsion and wireless powering of the capsule. Our method uses both the static and the radio frequency (RF) magnetic fields inherently available in MRI to generate a propulsive force. Our study focuses on the evaluation of the propulsive force for different swimming tails and experimental estimation of the parameters that influence its magnitude. We have found that an approximately 20 mm long, 5 mm wide swimming tail is capable of producing 0.21 mN propulsive force in water when driven by a 20 Hz signal providing 0.85 mW power and the tail located within the homogeneous field of a 3 T MRI scanner. We also analyze the parallel operation of the swimming mechanism and the scanner imaging. We characterize the size of artifacts caused by the propulsion system. We show that while the magnetic micro swimmer is propelling the capsule endoscope, the operator can locate the capsule on the image of an interventional scene without being obscured by significant artifacts. Although this swimming method does not scale down favorably, the high magnetic field of the MRI allows self propulsion speed on the order of several millimeter per second and can propel an endoscopic capsule in the stomach.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
J.J. Abbott, K.E. Peyer, M.C. Lagomarsino, L. Zhang, L. Dong, I.K. Kaliakatsos, B.J. Nelson, Int. J. Robot. Res. 28, 1434–1447 (2009)
B. Behkam, M. Sitti, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 223901 (2008)
D.J. Bell, S. Leutenegger, K.M. Hammar, L.X. Dong, B.J. Nelson, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1128–1133 (2007)
M. Berris, M. Shoham, Comput. Aided Surg. 11, 175–180 (2006)
R. Dreyfus, J. Baudry, M.L. Roper, M. Fermigier, H.A. Stone, J. Bibette, Nature 437, 862–865 (2005)
Ö. Ekeberg, Biol. Cybern. 69, 363–374 (1993)
G.S. Fischer, I. Iordachita, C. Csoma, J. Tokuda, S.P. DiMaio, C.M. Tempany, N. Hata, G. Fichtinger, IEEE ASME Trans. Mechatron. 13, 295–305 (2008)
S. Guo, Q. Pan, M. Khamesee, Microsystem Technologies 14, 307–314 (2008)
S.X. Guo, Y.M. Ge, L.F. Li, S. Liu, IEEE ICMA 2006: Proceeding of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, Vols 1–3, Proceedings, 249–254 (2006)
N. Hata, J. Tokuda, S. Hurwitz, S. Morikawa, J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 27, 1130–1138 (2008)
T. Honda, K.I. Arai, K. Ishiyama, Magnetics. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics 32, 5085–5087 (1996)
A. International, Standard Test Method for Evaluation of MR Image Artifacts from Passive Implants. vol. F 2119 – 01 (2006)
G. Kosa, Micro Robots for Medical Applications, in Surgical Robotics - Systems, Applications, and Visions, Hannaford B., Satava R., and Rosen J., Eds., 2010 (2010)
G. Kosa, P. Jakab, N. Hata, F. Jolesz, Z. Neubach, M. Shoham, M. Zaaroor, G. Szekely, Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 2008. BioRob 2008. Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on, 258–263 (2008a)
G. Kosa, P. Jakab, F. Jolesz, N. Hata, Robotics and Automation, 2008. ICRA 2008. IEEE International Conference on, 2922–2927 (2008b)
G. Kosa, M. Shoham, M. Zaaroor, IEEE Trans. Robot. 23, 137–150 (2007)
G. Kosa, G. Szekely, Hamlyn Symposium for Medical Robotics, London, (2010)
E. Lauga, Physical Review E 75, 041916 (2007)
W. Liu, X. Jia, F. Wang, Z. Jia, Sensor Actuator Phys. 160, 101–108 (2010)
S. Martel, O. Felfoul, J.-B. Mathieu, A. Chanu, S. Tamaz, M. Mohammadi, M. Mankiewicz, N. Tabatabaei, Int. J. Robot. Res. 28, 1169–1182 (2009)
J.B. Mathieu, G. Beaudoin, S. Martel, Biomedical Engineering. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 53, 292–299 (2006)
J.B. Mathieu, S. Martel, L.H. Yahia, G. Soulez, G. Beaudoin, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2003. Proceedings of the 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 4, 3419–3422 (2003)
L. Meirovitch, Elements of Vibration Analysis (Tokyo, McGraw-Hill, 1975)
A. Menciassi, P. Valdastri, K. Harada, P. Dario, Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 2008. BioRob 2008. Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 238–243 (2008)
A. Moglia, A. Menciassi, M.O. Schurr, P. Dario, Biomed. Microdevices 9, 235–243 (2007)
A.C. Nayfeh, D.T. Mook, Nonlinear Oscillations (New York, Wiley and Sons, 1979)
B.J. Nelson, I.K. Kaliakatsos, J.J. Abbott, Annu. Rev. Biomed. Eng. 12, 55–85 (2010)
P. Pouponneau, J.-C. Leroux, G. Soulez, L. Gaboury, S. Martel, Biomaterials 32, 3481–3486 (2011)
M. Sendoh, K. Ishiyama, K.I. Arai, Magnetics. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics 39, 3232–3234 (2003)
K.B. Yesin, K. Vollmers, B.J. Nelson, Int. J. Rob. Res. 25, 527–536 (2006)
Z. Yi, W. Qimin, Z. Peiqiang, W. Xiaohua, M. Tao, Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2004. (IROS 2004). Proceedings. 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on, 1746–1750 vol.2 (2004)
L. Zhang, J.J. Abbott, L. Dong, K.E. Peyer, B.E. Kratochvil, H. Zhang, C. Bergeles, B.J. Nelson, Nano Lett. 9, 3663–3667 (2009)
Acknowledgments
This publication was made possible by grant number 5P41RR019703, 5P01CA067165 from the National Institutes of Health. The authors would like to thank Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) for the generous funding of this project and Dr. Gregory Zilman for his helpful suggestion to include the added mass in the elastic model.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kósa, G., Jakab, P., Székely, G. et al. MRI driven magnetic microswimmers. Biomed Microdevices 14, 165–178 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-011-9594-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-011-9594-7