3P1-A01 Pneumatic soft mechanism for pushing the abdomen in stomach X-ray examination : 3^<rd> report: Variable pushing position mechanism(Medical Robotics and Mechatronics (2))

In stomach X-ray examination, the abdomen of a patient is pushed for taking clear images of the stomach. Especially for detailed examination, various parts of the abdomen must be compressed. However conventional stomach X-ray apparatuses have no pushing mechanism for prone position patient. In this report, we have developed a soft mechanism which can push various parts of the abdomen. The mechanism consists of five pneumatic actuators and has radiolucency. We conducted volunteer tests and confirmed that by changing the pressurizing actuator the obtained image can be changed with corresponding to the pushing area, and rugae in each part can be observed.