Insertion/removal supporting apparatus and insertion/removal supporting method

Abstract

A supporting apparatus for supporting insertion of a flexible insertion member into a subject and removal of the insertion member includes a tangential direction acquisition unit, a moving direction acquisition unit and a determination unit. The tangential direction acquisition unit acquires a tangential direction at at least one point of a predetermined portion in a longitudinal direction of the insertion member, based on a shape of the insertion member. The moving direction acquisition unit acquires a moving direction of the point. The determination unit determines states of the insertion member and the subject, based on the tangential direction and the moving direction.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.