Robotic capsule endoscope for minimally invasive surgical procedures, micro-patterned treads for friction enhancement of a robotic capsule endoscope in a biological environment, and process for fabrication of micro-treads

A micro-patterned tread bearing robotic capsule endoscope, comprising:

• an outer housing having a first end and a second end in opposition to one another;
• a motor disposed within the outer housing between the first end and the second end;
• a geared drive train in operable connection with the motor;
• a series of rollers supported by the outer housing;
• and
• at least one micro-patterned tread disposed on the series of rollers and in operable connection to the geared drive train so as to selectively drive the micro-patterned tread with the motor.

A method of fabricating closed loop treads for a robotic capsule endoscope, the method comprising:

• exposing a first side of double-sided tape by removing a backing paper;
• providing a thin layer of liquid PDMS to the first side of exposed double-sided tape.
• curing the liquid PDMS with heat to form a solid layer of PDMS;
• wrapping the solid layer of PDMS to overlap a first end of the double-sided tape to a second end of the double-sided tape;
• exposing a second side the double-sided tape by removing a backing paper;
• exposing the second side of the double-sided tape and a smooth side of a micro-patterned PDMS strip to O2 plasma;
• and
• wrapping the smooth side of the micro-patterned PDMS strip together with the second side of the double-sided tape.

A method of fabricating closed loop treads for a robotic capsule endoscope, the method comprising:

• exposing a first side of double-sided tape by removing a backing paper;
• laying out a strip of timing belt PDMS;
• exposing the first side of the double-sided tape and a side of the strip of PDMS to O2 plasma;
• pressing the smooth side of the timing belt PDMS to the first side of the double-sided tape;
• exposing a second side of the double-sided tape by removing a backing paper;
• exposing the second side of the double-sided tape to O2 plasma;
• forming a closed loop by overlapping ends of the double-sided tape to one another;
• exposing a smooth side of a micro-patterned PDMS to O2 plasma;
• pressing the smooth side of the micro-patterned PDMS to the second side of the double-sided tape so as to form a layer of micro-patterned PDMS on the outside surface of the tread.