When an accident occurs in which the airway of an infant, toddler, or elderly person is blocked by the insertion of food or foreign substances, a bronchial endoscopic robot system that can immediately remove foreign substances using a jointed endoscopic robot has been developed for the first time in Korea. This system is expected to improve the work efficiency of emergency facilities by providing fast and accurate treatment to patients while reducing side effects and minimizing the involvement of medical personnel.

A joint research team led by Principal Researcher Kim Ki-young of the Medical Robotics Laboratory at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Ryu Seok-hyun, hereinafter referred to as KIMM) under the Ministry of Science and ICT and Professor Jang Jae-won of the Otorhinolaryngology Department at Chungnam National University Hospital (President Cho Kang-hee, hereinafter referred to as Chungnam National University Hospital) developed an endoscopic robot system that integrates an endoscopic forceps device that can be adjusted in all directions, eye position tracking, and a foot pedal function, and successfully removed a foreign body inserted into the bronchus in a clinical trial using mini pigs.

The research team developed a 'bronchial robotic system' that combines robotic technology that can control the direction of the camera with a thin and flexible soft bronchoscope used in the medical field.

This robotic system combines an endoscope camera with an endoscopic robot and mounts it on a multi-joint stand so that medical staff can directly adjust its position. In addition, a flexible joint was attached to the endoscopic forceps gripper, and a wire was installed to adjust the direction of the joint. This allows the direction and angle of the gripper to be adjusted, making it easy to remove foreign substances at a desired location.

The research team also integrated eye position tracking technology that can track the eye movements of medical staff and foot pedal device technology that medical staff can operate directly with their feet. With this technology, the endoscopic camera can reach the direction of the foreign body through bending, straightening, and rotating, and can be operated by medical staff themselves, minimizing the input of manpower.

Existing bronchial forceps instruments have no flexible joints, so they cannot be adjusted up, down, left, or right, which limits the removal of foreign bodies. Since flexible endoscopes generally require medical staff to use both hands to remove foreign bodies, the assistance of an assistant is essential. The robotic system developed by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials can easily remove foreign substances by freely adjusting the direction of the endoscope, and is expected to significantly improve medical services in the future as it can minimize the input of medical staff without the need for assistants.

Kim Ki-young, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, said, “By applying existing robotic technology to endoscopic forceps instruments, we have been able to overcome the limitations of surgical treatment, such as reducing side effects,” and “In the future, we will pursue the development of smaller endoscopic forceps that can be applied not only to foreign body removal surgeries but also to general outpatient clinics.”

Chungnam National University Hospital Professor Jang Jae-won said, “Through this clinical trial, we have verified that the robotic system developed by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials has fewer side effects than existing surgical methods and is more effective in removing foreign bodies,” adding, “We will develop a system that can be applied to upper respiratory tract surgeries in the future.”

Meanwhile, this study was conducted with the support of the ‘Development of new concept Medibot core technology for upper airway endoscopic surgery’ project of the Inter-ministerial Full-cycle Medical Device Research and Development Project Group.