Validation of a New 3D-US Imaging Robotic System to Detect and Quantify Lower Limb Arterial Stenoses

Abstract

Stenosis degree is the most common criterion used to assess the severity of atherosclerosis. This form of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is often present in lower limb arteries. However, to detect and quantify distributed arterial stenoses in lower limbs, a high precision is required over a long segment. Moreover, to plan the appropriate therapy, a 3D representation of the vessel is desirable. Most 3D-ultrasound (US) developments are not optimally adapted for this application. A new 3D-US imaging robotic system that can control and standardize the 3D-US acquisition process for any scanning distance is presented. A calibration study is performed to determine the spatial transform to relate the US probe image plane attached to the robotic system, to the robot coordinates. Additionally, 3D-US reconstructions of in-vitro stenoses were obtained with the robotic scanner and the spatial calibration transform computed. Thereafter, stenoses were detected and quantified from the 3D reconstructed model. Altogether, these results demonstrate the potential of the robot for the clinical evaluation of lower limb vessels over long and tortuous segments starting from the iliac artery down to the popliteal artery below the knee.

Imaging techniques to evaluate cell therapy in peripheral artery disease: state of the art and clinical trials

“…Advances in ultrasound technology have introduced the contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU) and three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound in PAD diagnosis and monitoring. However, this option has been very limited by the availability of only few FDA-approved contrast media (Janvier et al, 2007). CEU imaging is based on the detection of microbubbles of contrast agents during their microvascular transit.…”

Hand-eye self-calibration of an ultrasound image-based robotic system

“…Therefore, there is a common need for a registration procedure that avoids the use of external sensors. In [11], such a calibration is proposed by the use of a phantom visible in the ultrasound 2D cross section, resulting in errors as small as 2.5 mm for a focus depth of 6 cm. This approach is however not valid for the type of targeted applications, since the phantom could not be used in an operating room.…”