Robot-Assisted Diagnostic Ultrasound – Design and Feasibility Experiments

Abstract

Motivated by the need for providing a better user interface for ultrasound technicians, a teleoperation approach to diagnostic ultrasound examinations is proposed in this paper. In this approach, the ultrasound probe is positioned by a robot, with the operator, the robot controller, and an ultrasound image processor having shared control over its motion. An inherently safe, light, backdrivable, counterbalanced robot has been designed for carotid artery examinations. Its design, as well as experiments demonstrating effective free-motion and force control, are presented. The feasibility of using visual servoing for motion in the plane of the ultrasound probe has also been addressed. Using a modified image correlation algorithm, tracking of the carotid artery for periods of time in excess of ten seconds has been demonstrated.

An Ultrasound Robotic System Using the Commercial Robot UR5

“…• Reduce or prevent musculoskeletal disorders for the physician (Salcudean et al, 1999;Nakadate et al, 2010b). …”

“…The force the robot uses on the patient is scaled down on the haptic device, thus reducing the strain. In both Salcudean et al (1999) and Nakadate et al (2010b), such robotic systems are presented.…”

“…A system for diagnosis of venous thrombosis is described in Vilchis-Gonzales et al (2007) and Vilchis-Gonzalez et al (2007). In Salcudean et al (1999) and Abolmaesumi et al (2002), the development of a system for carotid artery examinations to diagnose occlusive disease is described. This also includes shared control of the robot between the physician and a visual servoing algorithm based on cross-correlation.…”

Experiments with the TER Tele-echography Robot

“…Some previous tele-echography and robot-based echography systems have been developed [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Some of these approaches are purely tele-medicine projects (see [5] for example).…”

“…A second class of systems allows to automate an echographic examination using a robot [3,4]. Finally, a last category of robot-based systems enables the remote examination of patients by a distant expert with [3,6] or without [2,8] force feedback. Many of the robot-based systems integrate conventional robot architectures and actuation.…”