Asaf Shahmoon, PhD, Zeev Zalevsky, PhD. Z Square ltd, 27 Habarzel St., Building A, Ramat Hachayal, Tel Aviv, 6971039, Israel
Objective of the technology
Our development of an ultra-thin and minimally invasive micro-endoscope aims to add the following advantages to the field of endoscopy in general and specifically to laparoscopy and ureteroscopy:
- New medical examination – it can open a window for new medical examinations that are still not feasible due to the relatively large cross section of existing endoscopes.
- Imaging and treatment – the suggested endoscope is multi-functional and it offers a one piece tool that enable both high resolution imaging capability of internal organs as well as medical related functionalities such as drug delivery and nano therapy of tissues/cells.
- Minimal invasive intervention – our small cross-section size of 0.45mm requires minimal invasive intervention and therefore the scars occur due to the insertion of the endoscope become smaller. It can also e.g. go into blood arteries without damaging them from inside.
- Disposable – the currently available endoscopes are being used for multiple patients. This enlarges the risk for cross contamination. Our micro-endoscope is disposable due to the low cost of its fabrication process.
Description of the technology
The multicore micro-endoscope fiber has a square cross-section with external dimeter of 0.45mm and it includes more than 80,000 optical cores. The image is transmitted through those cores while each core transmits several pixels to external imaging camera. A fiber laser based illumination channel is integrated together with the imaging micro-endoscope. The device is made out of a biocompatible polymer and in combination of its ultra-thin diameter it enables mechanical flexibility with increased angulation capability during its navigation process inside the body. The optical performance of the proposed device are enhanced due to the fact that the prototype has square cross-section and thus a set of such endoscopes can be integrated together as happens with LEGO building blocks. By integrating several such blocks one can enhance features as resolution, field of view (FOV), working distance (WOD) just by aiming each micro-endoscopic building block to a different segment of the FOV or of the WOD or when directing them to the same region the imaging resolution is enhanced. Also, aiming two building blocks to the same region in space can allow realization of 3D capability via triangulation algorithm.
Preliminary results
We will present experimental results for the performance of our novel device which include capturing high-resolution images with the 0.45mm integrated prototype. We also show how we perform real time de-fogging: our micro-endoscopic device is very thin and thus the distal lens that goes into the body during the medical surgery is ultra-thin as well. As a result its temperature can easily be controlled while investing small amount of electrical power. This prevents fog from being accumulated on the distal lens.
Conclusions
We present our recent research outcome involving developing of ultra-thin micro-endoscope capable of enhancing several very important features to be offered to the world of medicine and which involve enhanced resolution, increased flexibility, FOV and WOD and automatic defogging of the distal lens.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 83112
Program Number: ETP733
Presentation Session: Emerging Technology Poster
Presentation Type: Poster
