An Automatic Implementation of Oropharyngeal Swab Sampling for Diagnosing Respiratory Infectious Diseases via Soft Robotic End-Effectors

作     者：Yafeng Cui Wenjie Yu Jingjing Li Qi Shao Ding Weng Guoping Yin Xiaohao Zhang Xinjun Liu Jingying Ye Jiadao Wang Huichan Zhao Yafeng Cui;Wenjie Yu;Jingjing Li;Qi Shao;Ding Weng;Guoping Yin;Xiaohao Zhang;Xinjun Liu;Jingying Ye;Jiadao Wang;Huichan Zhao

作者机构：Department of Mechanical EngineeringTsinghua UniversityBeijing 100084China Beijing Huakang Tongbang Technology CompanyBeijing 102609China Department of OtorhinolaryngologyBeijing Tsinghua Changgung HospitalSchool of Clinical MedicineTsinghua UniversityBeijing 102218China Tianjin Research Institute for Advanced EquipmentTsinghua UniversityTianjin 300300China 

出 版 物：《Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering》 (中国机械工程学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2024年第37卷第2期

页      面：55-67页

核心收录：

学科分类：0831[工学-生物医学工程（可授工学、理学、医学学位）] 080202[工学-机械电子工程] 08[工学] 0804[工学-仪器科学与技术] 0802[工学-机械工程] 0836[工学-生物工程] 

基　　金：Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.52222502,92048302,and 51975306) Research Project of State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration of China(Grant No.MSV201904) Emergency Research Project for COVID-19 from Institute for Precision Medicine of Tsinghua University of China 

主　　题：Diagnosis Medical robot Soft end-effector Swab-sampling Digital PCR 

摘      要：The most widely adopted method for diagnosing respiratory infectious diseases is to conduct polymerase chain reaction(PCR)assays on patients’respiratory specimens,which are collected through either nasal or oropharyngeal *** manual swab sampling process poses a high risk to the examiner and may cause false-negative results owing to improper *** this paper,we propose a pneumatically actuated soft end-effector specifically designed to achieve all of the tasks involved in swab *** soft end-effector utilizes circumferential instability to ensure grasping stability,and exhibits several key properties,including high load-to-weight ratio,error tolerance,and variable swab-tip stiffness,leading to successful automatic robotic oropharyngeal swab sampling,from loosening and tightening the transport medium tube cap,holding the swab,and conducting sampling,to snapping off the swab tail and sterilizing *** an industrial collaborative robotic arm,we integrated the soft end-effector,force sensor,camera,lights,and remote-control stick,and developed a robotic oropharyngeal swab sampling *** this swab sampling system,we conducted oropharyngeal swab-sampling tests on 20 *** Digital PCR assay results(RNase P RNA gene absolute copy numbers for the samples)revealed that our system successfully collected sufficient numbers of cells from the pharyngeal wall for respiratory disease *** summary,we have developed a pharyngeal swab-sampling system based on an“envelopingsoft actuator,studied the sampling process,and imple-mented whole-process robotic oropharyngeal swab-sampling.