System and method for automatic stomach screening

A system for imaging one or more specific structures in a stomach within a workspace, said system comprises:

• a. An active capsule endoscope to be placed into said stomach, comprising a camera, an inertial measurement unit and a permanent magnet;
• b. An actuation unit comprising a Hall-effect sensor array located at bottom of said workspace and a plurality of magnetic generators for generating a desired magnetic field;
• c. A controller unit comprising an image module, a closed-loop position controller, and a vision-based servo controller;
• said controller unit obtains images from said camera and orientation data from said inertial measurement unit;
• said controller unit obtains magnetic field data on said desired magnetic field from said Hall-effect sensor array;
• said controller unit generates a control input to said actuation unit to drive said active capsule endoscope along a pre-planned trajectory in said stomach;
• wherein said controller unit calculates in real-time a 6D-pose of said active capsule endoscope, χ, using said orientation data and said magnetic field data;
• said 6D-pose, χ, is feedback to said closed-loop position controller to perform translation and orientation adjustment by controlling said plurality of magnetic generators so as to remain in said pre-planned trajectory;
• said vision-based servo controller controls said plurality of magnetic generators based on said images and said 6-D pose, χ, so as to actuate said active capsule endoscope to image said one or more specific structures, wherein said image module matches said images against a database of stomach landmarks and general stomach three-dimensional shape to locate and image said one or more specific structures.