Ultra-thin Flexible Endoscopic Camera for Minimally Invasive Digestive Tract Examination

Digestive endoscopy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases such as gastritis, gastric ulcer and intestinal tumors. However, traditional rigid and semi-rigid endoscopes have large probe diameters and poor flexibility, which will cause strong discomfort, pharyngeal irritation and gastrointestinal mucosal damage to patients during examination, resulting in low patient acceptance and missed diagnosis of early lesions due to insufficient examination depth. With the continuous innovation of micro-optical imaging technology, flexible miniature endoscopic medical devices have made breakthrough progress in digestive tract minimally invasive diagnosis. This study develops an ultra-thin flexible endoscopic camera with a probe diameter of only 2.8 mm, which is far smaller than the diameter of traditional clinical endoscopes. The camera adopts ultra-high-definition micro-optical lens and low-distortion imaging algorithm, which can realize 360° panoramic imaging of the digestive tract cavity without dead angle. The flexible silicone probe can adapt to the complex curved structure of the esophagus, stomach and intestinal tract, move smoothly in the cavity, and effectively reduce mechanical friction and mucosal damage during intubation. In addition, the device is equipped with a miniature cleaning and gas injection module, which can automatically clean lens stains and adjust cavity inflation status to ensure clear imaging effect throughout the whole examination. Clinical comparative experiments show that the ultra-thin flexible endoscope has higher patient comfort and longer detectable depth, and the detection rate of early tiny gastrointestinal lesions is 28% higher than that of traditional endoscopes. This novel endoscopic medical device optimizes the patient examination experience, improves the accuracy of early gastrointestinal disease screening, and has broad application prospects in physical examination and clinical diagnosis.