An ergonomic, instrumented ultrasound probe for 6-axis force/torque measurement

Gilbertson, Matthew W.; Anthony, Brian W.

doi:10.1109/embc.2013.6609457

Cited by 36 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…To isolate the contact force measurement, the weight of the US probe must be subtracted depending upon the angle of orientation. From the analysis of clinical data acquired with a force-measuring US probe in [22], hand-induced accelerations are small compared with gravity and result in negligible inertial forces induced upon the US probe. Therefore, the accelerometer can be used to estimate and compensate for the weight of the US probe, and the contact force can be accurately calculated.…”

Section: B Angle Measurement and Gravity Compensation With The Accelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The instrumented force-measuring US probes of Salcudean [23], Chadli [37], Burcher [1], Han [38], and our group [22] measure one or more of the probe's three contact forces and three contact torques, in addition to one or more of the probe's three orientation angles. The sonographer could use the realtime force, torque, or angle readouts from these systems to manually control the contact state of the probe.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, in [16], we present a detailed description of the relevant prior art, discuss the results from additional experiments to evaluate the dynamic response of the system, and describe design adaptaions for arbitrary imaging applications. In [22], we present a passive force-measuring US probe also developed by our group and show the results from clinical studies in [15].…”

Section: Objectives and Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

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Force and Position Control System for Freehand Ultrasound

Gilbertson

Anthony

2015

IEEE Trans. Robot.

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A hand-held force-controlled ultrasound probe has been developed for medical imaging applications. The probepatient contact force can be held constant to improve image stability, swept through a range, or cycled. The mechanical portion of the device consists of a ball screw linear actuator driven by a servo motor, along with a load cell, accelerometer, and limit switches. The performance of the system was assessed in terms of the frequency response to simulated sonographer hand motion and in hand-held image feature tracking during simulated patient motion. The system was found to attenuate contact force variation by 97% at 0.1 Hz, 83% at 1 Hz, and 33% 10 Hz, a range that spans the typical human hand tremor frequency spectrum. In studies with 15 human operators, the device applied the target contact force with ten times less variation than in conventional ultrasound imaging. An ergonomic, human-in-the-loop, imaging-workflow enhancing control scheme, which combines both force-and positioncontrol, permits smooth making and breaking of probe-patient contact, and helps the operator keep the probe centered within its range of motion. By controlling ultrasound probe contact force and consequently the amount of tissue deformation, the system enhances the repeatability, usability, and diagnostic capabilities of ultrasound imaging.

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Section: B Angle Measurement and Gravity Compensation With The Accelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Objectives and Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

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Force and Position Control System for Freehand Ultrasound

Gilbertson

Anthony

2015

IEEE Trans. Robot.

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“…This logic is consistent with sonographers who demonstrated typical and peak contact forces of 11.6–21.4 and 15.6–64.9 N, respectively, for abdominal scans [32]. Additional abdominal scan studies reported mean and max forces of 9.8 and 22 N, respectively, for obese patients (BMI > 25) [33], 7.5 and 17.3 N, respectively, for normal weight patients (BMI = 18.5–25) [33], and 7.0 and 27.3 N, respectively, along the probe axis for all patients (BMIs not reported) [34]. Thus, any robot that applies ultrasound probe contact forces up to these previously reported values is clinically relevant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Standardized Acoustic Radiation Force (ARF)-Based Ultrasound Elasticity Measurements With Robotic Force Control

Bell

Kumar

Kuo

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.

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Objective Acoustic radiation force (ARF)-based approaches to measure tissue elasticity require transmission of a focused high-energy acoustic pulse from a stationary ultrasound probe and ultrasound-based tracking of the resulting tissue displacements to obtain stiffness images or shear wave speed estimates. The method has established benefits in biomedical applications such as tumor detection and tissue fibrosis staging. One limitation, however, is the dependence on applied probe pressure, which is difficult to control manually and prohibits standardization of quantitative measurements. To overcome this limitation, we built a robot prototype that controls probe contact forces for shear wave speed quantification. Methods The robot was evaluated with controlled force increments applied to a tissue-mimicking phantom and in vivo abdominal tissue from three human volunteers. Results The root-mean-square error between the desired and measured forces was 0.07 N in the phantom and higher for the fatty layer of in vivo abdominal tissue. The mean shear wave speeds increased from 3.7 to 4.5 m/s in the phantom and 1.0 to 3.0 m/s in the in vivo fat for compressive forces ranging from 2.5 to 30 N. The standard deviation of shear wave speeds obtained with the robotic approach were low in most cases (< 0.2 m/s) and comparable to that obtained with a semiquantitative landmark-based method. Conclusion Results are promising for the introduction of robotic systems to control the applied probe pressure for ARF-based measurements of tissue elasticity. Significance This approach has potential benefits in longitudinal studies of disease progression, comparative studies between patients, and large-scale multidimensional elasticity imaging.

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“…We have developed a force-measurement platform, Figure 2, which can simultaneously image and measure precise, operator-applied, force. We have demonstrated that during an ultrasound exam contact forces exerted by the operator can vary, up to 50% over 30 seconds 1 , resulting in images that are acquired at different levels of tissue deformation. We have used the force measurement platform to explore the impact of preload on elastic property estimates of Young's modulus in tissue and to characterize the average preload applied during abdominal sonography -it varies between 4.4 and 10 Newtons 2 .…”

Section: Sonographer Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced ultrasound for advanced diagnostics, ultrasound tomography for volume limb imaging and prosthetic fitting

Anthony

2016

SPIE Proceedings

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Ultrasound imaging methods hold the potential to deliver low-cost, high-resolution, operator-independent and nonionizing imaging systems -such systems couple appropriate algorithms with imaging devices and techniques. The increasing demands on general practitioners motivate us to develop more usable and productive diagnostic imaging equipment. Ultrasound, specifically freehand ultrasound, is a low cost and safe medical imaging technique. It doesn't expose a patient to ionizing radiation. Its safety and versatility make it very well suited for the increasing demands on general practitioners, or for providing improved medical care in rural regions or the developing world. However it typically suffers from sonographer variability; we will discuss techniques to address user variability.We also discuss our work to combine cylindrical scanning systems with state of the art inversion algorithms to deliver ultrasound systems for imaging and quantifying limbs in 3-D in vivo. Such systems have the potential to track the progression of limb health at a low cost and without radiation exposure, as well as, improve prosthetic socket fitting. Current methods of prosthetic socket fabrication remain subjective and ineffective at creating an interface to the human body that is both comfortable and functional. Though there has been recent success using methods like magnetic resonance imaging and biomechanical modeling, a low-cost, streamlined, and quantitative process for prosthetic cup design and fabrication has not been fully demonstrated. Medical ultrasonography may inform the design process of prosthetic sockets in a more objective manner. This keynote talk presents the results of progress in this area.

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An ergonomic, instrumented ultrasound probe for 6-axis force/torque measurement

Cited by 36 publications

References 8 publications

Force and Position Control System for Freehand Ultrasound

Force and Position Control System for Freehand Ultrasound

Toward Standardized Acoustic Radiation Force (ARF)-Based Ultrasound Elasticity Measurements With Robotic Force Control

Enhanced ultrasound for advanced diagnostics, ultrasound tomography for volume limb imaging and prosthetic fitting

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