Development of Structured Fabric-based Endoscopic Guiding Sheath with Tunable Diameter and Stiffness Functions

Development of Structured Fabric-based Endoscopic Guiding Sheath with Tunable Diameter and Stiffness Functions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Development of Structured Fabric-based Endoscopic Guiding Sheath with Tunable Diameter and Stiffness Functions Haibo Wang, yuanqiang Bing, Xinwei Liu, Zongyu Chang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6243127/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 03 May, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Robotic Surgery → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Flexible surgical instruments with multiple degrees of freedom or continuum surgical instruments demonstrate substantial advantages in Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES), particularly when navigating the complex anatomical pathways of the human gastrointestinal tract. However, conventional endoscopic instruments with fixed diameters and stiffness profiles risk exerting excessive mechanical stress on esophageal tissues, with clinical studies documenting mucosal tears and hemorrhagic complications in up to 15% of transgastric cholecystectomy procedures. To address these limitations, we developed a structured fabric-based guiding sheath featuring dynamic diameter modulation and tunable stiffness. This structured fabric construct enables the creation of a stable internal channel (15 mm working diameter) while demonstrating remarkable radial expandability from 15 mm to 20 mm outer diameter. Through pneumatic control systems, the guiding sheath achieves a 7.3-fold increase in stiffness under negative pressure conditions (0–80 kPa), significantly enhancing endoscopic maneuverability while maintaining patient safety. Phantom experiments demonstrated that the structured fabric-based guiding sheath establishes a consistently internal channel (15 mm inner diameter) while maintaining radial stability, effectively securing the insertion of endoscopic instruments and showing its potential for enhancing the safety and efficiency of NOTES procedures. Structured Fabric tunable stiffness tunable diameter endoscopic surgery NOTES Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 03 May, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Robotic Surgery → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 04 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 03 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 24 Mar, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 20 Mar, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 17 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 17 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6243127","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":434461541,"identity":"f53a578c-23dd-4c6a-9db2-057fdd77ee39","order_by":0,"name":"Haibo Wang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA3ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACZgYGiQQG9gYwh7GBeC08B0jTwpAA0kWcFoPjZw+/LqixyOOXfHxM4geDjeyGA8zPHuDVciYvzXrGMYliydlpaZI9DGnGGw6wmRvg02J2IMfMmIdNInHD7RwzaQaGw4kbDgC5eLWcfwPU8g+o5eYZkJb/RGi5kWP8mLcNqOUGD0jLAcJa7G+8MWPm7QP6pSct2bLHINl45mE2M7xaJPtzjD/zfKvL42c/fPDGjwo72b7jzc/wagECZGeAgoqZgHqQkg+E1YyCUTAKRsGIBgB5NUZNZV+zbwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Ocean University of China","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Haibo","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":434461542,"identity":"98cb8b0a-f103-4cec-a4e7-a9fc287f9db1","order_by":1,"name":"yuanqiang Bing","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ocean University of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"yuanqiang","middleName":"","lastName":"Bing","suffix":""},{"id":434461543,"identity":"3ad3879f-076a-49fc-aa64-8209d3b5d58b","order_by":2,"name":"Xinwei Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ocean University of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xinwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":434461544,"identity":"8f97b407-4794-415d-9de7-68fae68749ae","order_by":3,"name":"Zongyu Chang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ocean University of China","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zongyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Chang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-03-17 09:28:27","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6243127/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6243127/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11701-025-02366-6","type":"published","date":"2025-05-03T15:57:24+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81987909,"identity":"7bec66a3-4d2f-4cb3-9d62-0bd4484a9eb5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-05-05 16:06:46","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":980884,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"DevelopmentofStructuredFabricbasedEndoscopicGuidingSheathwithTunableDiameterandStiffnessFunctions.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6243127/v1_covered_fec68967-ee22-4afb-9c20-317e31d9c25d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Development of Structured Fabric-based Endoscopic Guiding Sheath with Tunable Diameter and Stiffness Functions","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-robotic-surgery","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jors","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Robotic Surgery](http://link.springer.com/journal/11701)","snPcode":"11701","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11701/3","title":"Journal of Robotic Surgery","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Structured Fabric, tunable stiffness, tunable diameter, endoscopic surgery, NOTES","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6243127/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6243127/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFlexible surgical instruments with multiple degrees of freedom or continuum surgical instruments demonstrate substantial advantages in Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES), particularly when navigating the complex anatomical pathways of the human gastrointestinal tract. 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