Ultrasound image features of the wrist are linearly related to finger positions

Ultrasound imaging is a widespread technique to gather live images of the interiors of the human body. It is safe and provides high spatial and temporal resolution. In this paper we show that features extracted from the ultrasound section of the human wrist can be used to fully reconstruct the hand movements, including flexion of all fingers and the rotation of the thumb. Surprisingly, it turns out that there is a clear linear relationship between image features and finger positions. The related matrix can be estimated on a rather small subset of samples, and the reconstruction is quite robust across single- and multi-finger movements. This technique can be used to control advanced mechatronic hands, and it finds its paradigmatic application in the case of hand amputees

Robot assisted Internal Mammary Artery detection for coronary revascularisation surgery

This paper presents a semi-automatic robotic system supporting a surgeon in the harvesting of the internal mammary artery (IMA) for an open chested intervention in coronary revascularisation surgery. The versatile surgical lightweight robot MIRO developed at DLR (German Aerospace Center) is used to detect and mark the path of the IMA at the inner side of the thoracic wall. The robot is equipped with a tool combining a Doppler ultrasonography (US) probe and a medical marker pen. The position of the IMA is extracted from the US-images to place the tool above the artery via visual servoing. Additionally, the robot moves the tool in direction of the artery to mark the location of the IMA on it’s path. To achieve an ideal contact situation for US-imaging along the whole path the contact force between tissue and probe is controlled according to force measurements based on the internal torque sensors of the robot. The evaluation of the robotic system by an animal experiment shows that the system is capable of robustly detecting the IMA

Fiberoptic 6-DOF Force-Torque-Sensing for Haptic Feedback in Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery

In minimally invasive robotic surgery long and slender instruments are introduced into the body of the patient through small incisions or natural orifices. Robotics technology is applied in order to comply with the kinematic constraints of the fulcrum point, to increase the immersion for the surgeon by sensors and to increase dexterity by supplemental motion capabilities

Tactile Feedback for Artery Detection in Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery –Preliminary Results of a New Approach

Minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS) entails total absence of haptic feedback due to the spatial separation of patient and surgeon. In conventional surgery, however, palpation to detect superficial arteries by a slight pulsation is an important, commonly applied, and security-relevant procedure. Therefore, an ultrasound based unidirectional sensor for MIRS was developed feeding back kinesthetic impulses to the surgeon-sided haptic input device