Page 332 - Flexible Robotics in Medicine

322 Chapter 13

13.7.2 Competitive advantages

Working length: BEE device further has a maximum translation portion, which is a safety
measure.
Self-operation: Current flexible endoscopes make use of articulating lever to articulate the
distal tip of the endoscope. This can be seen in the following pictures. This articulating
lever allows motion in one plane—the up and down motion.
Bending planes: BEE can allow angulation more than in the up/down direction
(Table 13.11).

On the other hand, BEE’s flexible endoscope component can allow angulation up to two
planes: up/down direction and left/right direction. In addition, by controlling the two planes
simultaneously, the endoscope can reach diagonal targets, as shown in Table 13.12.

We have achieved the main intended uses, such as self-operation, smooth insertion biplane
rotation, and intuitive user-control.

Table 13.12: BEE device’s angulation planes to reach vertical and horizontal targets.