Endoscope Shape-Tracker Based on Embedded Fluorescent Dyes in an Optical Fiber

Endoscopes are used in medicine to inspect inside the body without having to perform open surgery on the patient. The current gold standard for screening and diagnosing colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease is the colonoscopy. This procedure uses a flexible endoscope to inspect the wall of the large intestine, from the rectum to the caecum, for cancerous or precancerous lesions. This screening is very important since early detection of colon cancer is 85–95% successfully treated. Unfortunately, there is only a 30% compliance rate for colonoscopies in the United States. This lack of compliance is due largely in part to the uncomfortable nature of the procedure, caused by the fact that the stiff scope is difficult to manipulate in the non-rigid colon, leading to “looping” of the scope (see Fig. 1), and that the clinician is essentially navigating in near blind conditions during the procedure.