Multi-Modular Capsule Robot System with Drug Release for Intestinal Treatment

Capsule robots have the potential for intestinal treatment due to their unique advantages compared with traditional diagnosis and treatment. However, current capsule robots can only carry and release one type of drug, while more drugs would be needed during the treatment. In addition, the volume of loaded drugs will be restricted due to the small dimensions of the capsule robot, and released drugs need to be guaranteed to have a sufficient dosage for treatment. In this article, to overcome these limitations, a system was proposed, and the robot consists of a leader robot module and several robot modules. Each robot module can load two types of drugs, and any two robot modules can achieve docking and separations according to the clinical requirements. Laboratory experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance. The experimental results show that the robot modules can move with speeds of 28.5, 25.1, 22.3, and 14.5 mm/s when they load drugs of 0, 0.6, 1.2, and 1.8 g, respectively. Ex vivo experiments demonstrated that two robot modules could dock and separate from each other and release drugs at target positions and did not cause damage to the lining of the intestine. This proposed multidrug modular capsule robot could prove a reference for drug release and control and have the potential for further applications.