KR101389439B1 - Micro-robot system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a microrobot system capable of simplifying the configuration of a coil system for driving a microrobot in a microrobot system capable of removing a constriction in a blood vessel using a spherical microrobot having a magnet. A spherical microrobot portion 100 including 120; Helmholtz coil part 211 consisting of a pair of coils; A uniform saddle coil portion 212 formed to be rotatably coaxial with the helmholtz coil portion 211 and formed with a pair of coils for generating a uniform magnetic field in a three-dimensional arbitrary direction together with the helmholtz coil portion 211; ; The inclined saddle coil portion 221 is provided to be rotatably coaxial with the Helmholtz coil portion 211, and is disposed perpendicular to the uniform saddle coil portion 212 to a pair of coils for generating a gradient magnetic field. It can be configured to move the microrobot by only three pairs of coil structures or to remove the constriction by a rotational movement. Also, the three pairs of coils can be coaxially arranged so that the patient can be operated in a horizontal state. There is.

Description

Micro-robot system

The present invention relates to a microrobot system. In particular, in a microrobot system capable of removing constriction in blood vessels using a spherical microrobot having a magnet, it is possible to simplify the configuration of a coil system for driving the microrobot. It relates to a microrobot system.

Minimally invasive procedure using a microrobot is a surgical method that can reduce the pain of the patient by minimizing the incision site, and a lot of research has been recently conducted. In particular, many studies have been conducted on driving devices for propelling or treating microrobots using an external magnetic field, and most of the studies have been conducted on a two-dimensional plane or a simple movement of a three-dimensional space.

For example, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0095781 (published date: September 1, 2010) (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art Document 1) and Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-139496 (published date: December 29, 2011) (hereinafter referred to as: Prior art document 2) shows a capsule-type microrobot for removing chronic stenosis lesions.

However, the prior art document 1 is composed of a power transmission means including a drill tip, a motor for driving the drill tip, and a gear for transmitting the rotational power of the motor to the drill tip in the capsule-type body, driving Cause There is a problem in that a power transmission system such as a motor and a gear is required and the configuration is complicated, so that it is not easy to implement, and operation reliability during the procedure must be secured.

On the other hand, the prior art document 2 is a power supply means for supplying power to the inner body of the capsule form, the triggering means is supplied by the power supply means to control the discharge of the impact tip, and the impact tip using its own elastic It is composed of an elastic means for accelerating and discharging the pressure, the impact tip for generating a crack on the surface of the hard lesion is accelerated to the front by the elastic means to impinge on the surface of the lesion is proposed a shock-absorbing device, but the prior art Like Document 1, there is a problem in that the configuration is complicated and difficult to manufacture and easy to implement.

On the other hand, Korean Patent No. 10-1096532 (Registration Date: 2011.12.14) (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art Document 3) of the present applicant has proposed a three-dimensional electromagnetic drive device, prior art document 3 magnetizes the microrobot Helmholtz coils and uniform saddle coils for generating a uniform magnetic field to align in the advancing direction; The rotational and translational motion of the microrobot is achieved by using a coil system consisting of Maxwell coil and gradient saddle coil for driving the microrobot.

The present invention aims to further improve the prior art, which simplifies the structure of the coil system and facilitates the control by simplifying the operation mechanism of the microrobot and the coil system for driving the microrobot. To provide a microrobot system having a coil structure more suitable for the procedure.

Microrobot system according to the present invention for achieving this object, and a spherical microrobot portion including a magnet; Helmholtz coil part consisting of a pair of coils; A uniform saddle coil portion rotatably coaxial with the helmholtz coil portion and composed of a pair of coils for generating a uniform magnetic field in a three-dimensional arbitrary direction together with the helmholtz coil portion; Is provided rotatably on the coaxial with the Helmholtz coil portion, it is achieved by the inclined saddle coil portion consisting of a pair of coils disposed perpendicular to the uniform saddle coil portion to generate a gradient magnetic field.

Preferably in the present invention, the microrobot portion further comprises a plurality of protrusions protruding on the surface, more preferably, the plurality of protrusions is characterized in that it is uniformly distributed on the surface of the microrobot portion.

Preferably, in the present invention, the image unit for tracking the position of the micro-robot unit by using an X-ray image, and more preferably, the image unit, and the X-ray module for obtaining the image of the micro-robot unit being driven; ; The image registration module may be configured to track and display the location of the microrobot unit by matching the image obtained from the X-ray module with an image of a subject previously photographed.

The microrobot system according to the present invention comprises: a spherical microrobot portion having magnets magnetized in an arbitrary direction; Helmholtz coil part consisting of a pair of coils; A uniform saddle coil portion rotatably coaxial with the helmholtz coil portion and composed of a pair of coils for generating a uniform magnetic field in a three-dimensional arbitrary direction together with the helmholtz coil portion; It is provided to be rotatable coaxially with the Helmholtz coil portion and is arranged vertically with the uniform saddle coil portion to constitute an inclined saddle coil portion for generating an inclined magnetic field. There is an effect that can remove the constriction.

In addition, the microrobot system of the present invention has the advantage of being able to move and / or rotate the microrobot unit with only three pairs of coils provided on the coaxial, so that the procedure can be performed in a horizontal state.

1 is a view showing the configuration of a microrobot system according to the present invention;
Figure 2 (a) (b) is a view showing the appearance of the microrobot in the microrobot system according to the present invention, respectively, a part cut away,
3 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of the electromagnetic field generating unit in the microrobot system according to the present invention;
4 is a view showing only the Helmholtz coil portion of the electromagnetic field generating portion in the microrobot system according to the present invention;
5 is a view showing only the uniform saddle coil portion of the electromagnetic field generating portion in the microrobot system according to the present invention;
6 is a view showing only the inclined saddle coil portion of the electromagnetic field generating portion in the microrobot system according to the present invention;
7 is a view for explaining an operation example for pushing the microrobot part in a specific direction in the microrobot system according to the present invention;
8 is a view showing the configuration of a microrobot system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The specific structure or functional description presented in the embodiment of the present invention is merely illustrative for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment according to the concept of the present invention, and embodiments according to the concept of the present invention can be implemented in various forms. And should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein, but should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood, however, that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms " comprises ", or "having ", and the like in the specification are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, But do not preclude the presence or addition of steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the microrobot system of the present invention includes a microrobot unit 100; An electromagnetic field generating unit 200 for driving the microrobot unit 100 is included.

The microrobot unit 100 has a spherical shape including a magnet to have an arbitrary magnetization direction. The micro robot 100 is a rotational motion and / or translational movement in any direction by the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic field generating unit 200.

The microrobot unit 100 may be used as a capsule endoscope by adding a camera module, and may be used as a tool for removing a lesion for removing a constriction in a blood vessel by a rotary motion.

Figure 2 (a) (b) is a view showing the appearance of the preferred embodiment of the microrobot in the microrobot system according to the present invention, respectively, and a part cut away, as illustrated, the microrobot portion 100 Is made of a body 110 having a spherical shape, the magnet 110 is provided inside the body 110 having an arbitrary magnetization direction.

In the present invention, since the microrobot 100 has a spherical shape, the magnetization direction of the magnet 120 is not important. Meanwhile, the magnet 120 of the microrobot 100 may have a magnetization direction due to an external magnetic field. Alignment may be made in the magnetic field direction to coincide.

Preferably, in the present invention, the microrobot unit 100 further includes a plurality of protrusions 111 protruding from the surface.

As such, the plurality of protrusions 111 formed on the body 110 may function as a cutting tool capable of removing the constriction in the blood vessel by the rotational movement of the microrobot unit 100.

The electromagnetic field generating unit 200 is for generating a magnetic field to rotate the spherical microrobot unit 100 or to perform a translational movement in an arbitrary direction, to align the microrobot unit 100 in an arbitrary direction, and to align the alignment direction. A uniform magnetic field generating module 210 for generating a uniform magnetic field so as to allow rotational movement by changing the voltage; It may be provided by the gradient magnetic field generating module 220 for generating a gradient magnetic field to propel the microrobot 100 in a predetermined direction.

3 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of the electromagnetic field generating unit in the microrobot system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the electromagnetic field generating unit 200 may include a helmholtz coil unit 211 and a uniform saddle coil unit 212 for generating a uniform magnetic field in a three-dimensional arbitrary direction; It includes an inclined saddle coil portion 221 for generating a gradient magnetic field.

The helmholtz coil portion 211 is provided by two coaxial coils spaced apart by a radius thereof, and the magnetic field between the two coils forms a uniform magnetic field in the axial direction.

The uniform saddle coil portion 212 is composed of a pair of coils having a saddle shape, and is provided to be rotatable coaxially with the Helmholtz coil portion 211 and in a three-dimensional arbitrary direction together with the Helmholtz coil portion 211. Generates.

The inclined saddle coil part 221 is constituted by a pair of coils having a saddle shape, and is provided to be rotatable coaxially with the helmholtz coil part 211, and has an arrangement perpendicular to the uniform saddle coil part 212. Unlike the uniform saddle coil part 212, the inclined saddle coil part 221 is inverted in the direction of current applied to both coils to generate a gradient magnetic field.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, in the helmholtz coil part 211, two coils 211a and 211b form a pair, and two coils 211a and 211b on the coaxial (x-axis) have a radius r. Spaced d as is spaced apart. The same magnitude of current is applied to the two coils in the same direction to generate a uniform magnetic field on the coaxial (x-axis) of the Helmholtz coil portion 211.

The magnetic field generated on the coaxial of the Helmholtz coil part may be expressed as Equation 1 below.

[Equation 1]

i _h is the applied current, n _h is the number of turns, and r _h is the radius of the coil (or the spacing between two coils).

Referring to FIG. 5, the uniform saddle coil portion 212 is provided by two coils 212a and 212b having a saddle shape, and the same size current is applied to both coils in the same direction, thereby providing uniform uniformity on the xy plane. Magnetic field is generated.

The magnetic field generated by the uniform saddle coil part 212 may be expressed as Equation 2 below.

&Quot; (2) "

i _u is the applied current, n _u is the number of turns, and r _u is the radius of the coil.

Referring to FIG. 6, the inclined saddle coil part 221 is provided by two coils 221a and 221b having a saddle shape, and an inclined magnetic field is generated on the xz plane by applying currents in opposite directions to the two coils. do.

The magnetic field generated from the inclined saddle coil part 221 may be expressed as in Equation 3 below.

&Quot; (3) "

g _g is the magnetic field slope, i _g is the applied current, n _g is the number of turns, r _g is the radius of the coil, and x, y, z is the center of the region of interest (the center of the coil) (0,0 The coordinate value at each position is set as the coordinate of, 0).

The electromagnetic field generating unit 200 of the present invention configured as described above has a three-dimensional structure with a fixed Helmholtz coil portion 211 and a uniform saddle coil portion 212 rotatably disposed coaxially with the Helmholtz coil portion 211. A uniform magnetic field may be generated in any direction, and the microrobot unit 100 may be aligned in a uniform magnetic field direction.

Specifically, since the Helmholtz coil portion 211 and the uniform saddle coil portion 212 can generate a uniform magnetic field in any direction on the two-dimensional plane, and the uniform saddle coil portion 212 can rotate, The rotation of the saddle coil part 212 may generate a uniform magnetic field in any direction in three dimensions.

On the other hand, as the alignment direction of the uniform magnetic field generated by the uniform magnetic field generating module 210 is rotated along an arbitrary rotation axis, the microrobot portion may rotate in the direction of the uniform magnetic field. The rotational motion of the microrobot unit can be used to remove the constriction in blood vessels.

Next, FIG. 7 is a view for explaining an operation example for pushing the microrobot unit in a specific direction in the microrobot system according to the present invention. The left side of FIG. 7 shows a three-dimensional coordinate space, and the right side is an xr plane. Figure is a diagram.

In FIG. 7, M represents magnetization, which is a magnetic moment per unit volume of a magnet provided in the microrobot unit, and alignment is performed in the same direction as the uniform magnetic field generated by the Helmholtz coil unit and the uniform saddle coil unit.

Meanwhile, r, which is an arbitrary vector, represents the propulsion direction of the microrobot part, wherein an angle between the x-r plane and the z-axis is represented by α, and an angle between the arbitrary vector r and the x-axis is represented by β.

The gradient magnetic field of the electromagnetic field generating unit may be expressed from Equation 3 as shown in Equation 4 below.

&Quot; (4) "

Meanwhile, as shown in Equation 5, each magnetic field slope may be expressed from the components of the x-axis and the r-axis of the driving force F to propel the microrobot unit. In the formula below, V represents the volume of the magnet.

&Quot; (5) "

From (1) and (2) of [Equation 5], the angle (θ) between the x-axis and the magnet in order to propel the microrobot part in an arbitrary direction on the xr plane, and the magnitude of the gradient magnetic field required for propulsion is as follows. (6).

&Quot; (6) "

In the microrobot system according to the present invention configured as described above, since the microrobot has a spherical shape, the microrobot does not have to coincide with the alignment direction and the propulsion direction, and the microrobot unit can be aligned by driving the helmholtz coil unit and the uniform saddle coil unit. have.

In particular, by rotating the alignment direction of the microrobot unit by using the uniform magnetic field generating module 210 to generate a uniform magnetic field, it is possible to rotate the microrobot unit, it is possible to remove the constriction in the vessel.

In addition, by using the inclined saddle coil portion rotatably provided for the translational motion of the microrobot portion, the propulsion control of the microrobot can be easily performed.

For example, the microrobot unit 100 inserted into the blood vessel may be moved by translational movement to the constriction of the target procedure site by the inclination magnetic field generating module 220 of the electromagnetic field generating unit 200. After the microrobot unit 100 is moved to a rotational motion by the uniform magnetic field generating module 210, the microrobot unit 100 may drill the constriction to remove the constriction.

In particular, the electromagnetic field generating portion of the present invention can be arranged on the horizontal coaxial helmholtz coil portion and uniform saddle coil portion constituting the uniform magnetic field generating module, and the gradient saddle coil portion constituting the gradient magnetic field generating module, the patient There is an advantage that can be performed in a state lying horizontally inside the coil to configure.

In addition, the coil system of the present invention can be configured with only three pairs of coils, thereby simplifying the configuration of the coil system required for driving the microrobot and reducing power consumption.

8 is a view showing the configuration of a microrobot system according to another embodiment of the present invention, the microrobot system according to the present invention, an image unit to track the position of the microrobot unit 100 using an X-ray image ( 300) may be further included.

Preferably, the imaging unit 300 in the present invention, the X-ray module 310 for obtaining an image of the micro-robot unit being driven; The image obtained by the X-ray module 310 may be provided by the image registration module 320 to match the image of the subject photographed in advance to track and display the location of the microrobot unit.

X-ray module 310 may be used to obtain a CT image.

The image registration module 320 stores CT or MRI images of the subjects photographed before the procedure, and images of the microrobot 100 obtained from the X-ray module 310 and pre-CT or MRI images of the subjects during the procedure. By matching, the position of the microrobot part is tracked and displayed during the procedure.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

100: microrobot unit 110: the body
120: magnet 200: electromagnetic field generating unit
210: uniform magnetic field generating module 211: Helmholtz coil part
212: uniform saddle coil portion 220: gradient magnetic field generation module
221: inclined saddle coil portion 300: the image portion
310: X-ray module 320: Image matching module

Claims (4)

A microrobot portion including a magnetic body having a spherical shape and having a magnetization direction to pass through the center thereof;
Helmholtz coil part consisting of a pair of coils;
A uniform saddle coil portion rotatably coaxial with the helmholtz coil portion and composed of a pair of coils for generating a uniform magnetic field in a three-dimensional arbitrary direction together with the helmholtz coil portion;
It is provided rotatably on the coaxial with the Helmholtz coil portion, the microrobot system including a gradient saddle coil portion consisting of a pair of coils disposed perpendicular to the uniform saddle coil portion for generating a gradient magnetic field. The microrobot system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of protrusions protruding from a surface of the microrobot part. The microrobot system of claim 1, further comprising an image unit to track the position of the microrobot unit using an X-ray image. The method of claim 3, wherein the video unit,
An X-ray module for obtaining an image of the microrobot unit being driven;
And an image registration module configured to track and display the position of the microrobot unit by matching the image obtained from the X-ray module with an image of a subject photographed in advance.

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