A User Interface for Robot-Assisted Diagnostic Ultrasound

A robot-assisted system for medical diagnostic ultrasound has been developed by the authors. This paper presents key features of the user interface used in this system. While the ultrasound transducer is positioned by a robot, the operator, the robot controller, and an ultrasound image processor have shared control over its motion. Ultrasound image features that can be selected by the operator are recognized and tracked by a variety of techniques. Based on feature tracking, ultrasound image servoing in three axes has been incorporated in the interface and can be enabled to automatically compensate, through robot motions, unwanted motions in the plane of the ultrasound beam. The stability and accuracy of the system is illustrated through a 3D reconstruction of an ultrasound phantom

Robot-assisted Diagnostic Ultrasound - Design and Feasibility Experiments

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