Analytical magnetic model applied to endoscopic robots design: A ready-To-use implementation and a case of study

The recent years have witnessed great achievements in medical robotic devices, and further challenges will come and need to be conquered for more technically advanced and acceptable medical robotic devices. Magnetic-based approaches are highly promising to provide solutions for the new generation of medical robotic devices, due to the desirable characteristics in the interaction between the human body and the robotic system, e.g. freedom from physical barrier, magnetic permeability passing through the body. In this paper, we provide the analytical magnetic model for flux density and the force/torque mathematical relations. The analytical models based on current models for both external and internal magnets are derived and validated through a finite element analysis (i.e., COMSOL software) and with experimental tests. Finally, the preliminary results are presented, discussed and applied to an endoscopic capsule robot. It is worth noting that the presented work can be used for the design of any device involving permanent magnetic fields, such as medical system.