Patent ID: 9131833
Filing Date: 2015-09-15
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A locomotion device, comprising: a pincher, configured to draw and retain a deformable substratum portion of a substratum of a mucous membrane of a hollow organ of a human body, which substratum is external to the locomotion device, to establish an anchoring point of the locomotion device onto the substratum, wherein the locomotion device is capable of being arranged externally to the substratum, wherein the pincher comprises a pair of rotating elements capable of being driven according to reciprocally-opposite rotation directions and capable of drawing and retaining between them the substratum portion by a reciprocally-opposite rotation in said reciprocally-opposite rotation directions so as to perform a pinching and retaining step of the substratum, wherein said rotating elements are also capable of being driven according to a same rotation direction so as to perform a translation step of the locomotion device onto the substratum, wherein said rotating elements are formed of a pair of belts having respective facing portions provided with a relative rotation, the belts of said pair being configured to be in contact with the substratum and to draw and retain the substratum portion between them, wherein a distance between the facing portions is variable to allow substratum pinching between the facing portions, wherein the pincher comprises a contrast element configured to oppose a change in relative distance between the facing portions of said belts, said change being caused by a thickness of pinched tissue, wherein the substratum portion is drawn in and pinched between said facing portions when driving the rotating elements in reciprocally-opposite rotation directions, wherein the substratum portion is maintained between the facing portions by a biasing force from the contrast element, wherein the locomotion device alternates the pinching and retaining step of the substratum with the translation step onto the substratum, and wherein the locomotion device is configured for endoscopic navigation into a gastro-intestinal tract.