Affiliations: EndoCAS Center, Dipartimento di Oncologia dei Trapianti e delle Nuove Tecnologie in Medicina, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy | The Biorobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Sara Condino, EndoCAS Center, Università di Pisa, Ospedale di Cisanello, Via Paradisa 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. Tel.: (+39) 050 995 68925; Fax: (+39) 050 995 676; E-mail: sara.condino@endocas.org
Abstract: A testing environment that imitates gastric geometry and contractile activity is necessary to analyse and validate endoluminal surgical robotic devices developed for gastric pathologies. To achieve this goal, a silicone stomach model and a mechanical setup to simulate gastric contractile motion were designed and fabricated. The developed stomach simulator was validated and its usefulness was demonstrated by means of internal pressure measurements and self-assembly tests of mock-ups of capsule devices. The results demonstrated that the stomach simulator is helpful for quantitative evaluation of endoluminal robotic devices before in-vitro/in-vivo experiments.
