Friction manipulation for intestinal locomotion.

The importance of colonoscopies on the one hand and the drawbacks of the conventional instrumentation on the other have led to research into alternative colonoscopic devices. The main question for the development of such devices is the method of locomotion along the slippery and flaccid intestinal tube. This paper suggests a new intestinal locomotion method based on friction manipulation between the device and the intestinal wall. A new concept to manipulate friction is described. The concept is based on the active alterations of the friction between the device and the intestinal wall and it is inspired by the locomotion of biological species such as snails and starfish.