Tufts endoscopic fiber optic shape tracker, or EFOST technology, is a possible solution for endoscope looping, which can impede the physician’s view and also be a major source of pain for patients. By outfitting an endoscope with fiber optic bend sensors and digital electronics that display its position and shape on a video monitor, the Tufts engineers have built a system that could serve as a visual navigation tool.
Using a prototype, Tufts engineers embedded quantum dots along the length of an optical fiber, which stretched around a metal cylinder to create a bending effect. They then injected a laser light beam into the fiber’s inner core from one end so that it released light as it is bent. With this data, the researchers were able to measure the degree of curvature in the fiber and calculate the direction of the bend. In a separate experiment, the researchers were able to produce a video image by sending data through a digital processor, which created a real-time image of the scope in a model colon.
Read the news release about Tufts University’s EFOST technology.
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