Application of Robot in Colonoscopy

Background: Currently, there are about twenty percent of the subjects who feel pain and become uncomfortable while they are in the middle of the process of bowel disease examination by colonoscopy. Within the examination, the attending physician needs the assistance of nurses to complete the operation, which is extremely inconvenient. And there is still the chance of being hurt or infected by corrosive intestinal juice. Therefore, how to improve the efficiency of diagnosis, ensure the safety of operation, and reduce the pain of patients are the current research hotspots in the field of colonoscopy. Objective: The study aimed to provide an overview of the existing colonoscopy robots and introduce their classification and characteristics. Methods: This paper reviews various productions and patents related to the colonoscopy robot. The structural characteristics, differences and applications of the typical colonoscopy robot are also introduced. Results: The auxiliary colonoscopy robot and the active flexible colonoscopy robot were compared and analyzed, and the typical characteristics were concluded. The main problems in colonoscopy robot’s development were analyzed, and the development trend is foreseen. The current and future research works on the productions and patents on colonoscopy robots are discussed. Conclusion: Colonoscopy robot is helpful for reducing the doctor’s efforts while performing labor operation. It gives a more clear vision and offers an excellent interactive interface to make man-machine conversation easy. With the continuous improvement of technology, especially in the field of artificial intelligence and imaging processing technology, colonoscopy robot has been found to be more stable, comfortable, humanized, intelligent and secure.