Self-advancing endoscopic probe and system comprising same

摘要

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a propulsion device, system, or component thereof, as well as related manufacturing methods, for advancing a device along a passageway. For example, a device may include medical (such as an endoscope) or industrial (such as mining) instrument, sensor, probe and/or monitoring equipment. The described embodiments may also be suitable for other fields of application for advancing an instrument along a passageway. Some embodiments relate to an endoscope comprising or configured to receive a propulsion tube configured to assist in advancing the endoscope along a passageway.