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Automatic ultrasound scanning robotic system with optical waveguide-based force measurement

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound (US) imaging realized by continuous scanning of a region is of great value for medical diagnosis and robot-assisted needle insertion. During scanning, the contact force and posture between the probe and skin of the patient are crucial factors that determine the quality of US imaging. We propose a robotic system for automatic scanning of curved surfaces with a stable contact force and vertical contact posture (the probe is parallel to the normal of the surface at the contact point).

Methods

A 6-DOF robotic arm is used to hold and drive a two-dimensional (2D) US probe to complete automatic scanning. Further, a path-planning strategy is proposed to generate the scan path covering the selected area automatically. We also developed a novel force-measuring device based on optical waveguides to measure the distributed contact force and contact posture. Based on the measured force and posture, the robotic arm automatically adjusts the position and orientation of the probe and maintains a stable contact force and vertical contact posture at each scan point.

Results

The novel force-measuring device is easy to fabricate, integrates with the probe and has the capacity of measuring the force distributed on the contact surface and estimating the contact posture. The experimental results of automatic scanning of a US phantom and parts of the human body demonstrate that the proposed system performs well in automatically scanning curved surfaces, maintaining a stable contact force and vertical contact posture and producing a good quality 3D US volume.

Conclusion

An automatic US scanning robotic system with an optical waveguide-based force-measuring device was developed and tested successfully. Experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed system to scan the human body.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.cn) for English language editing.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51575343).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Shihang Chen, Yanping Lin & Qixin Cao

  2. Shanghai General Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Zhaojun Li & Fang Wang

  3. Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Yanping Lin & Qixin Cao

Authors
  1. Shihang Chen
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  2. Zhaojun Li
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  3. Yanping Lin
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  4. Fang Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanping Lin.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and animals rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. No animal experiments were performed in this study.

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Cite this article

Chen, S., Li, Z., Lin, Y. et al. Automatic ultrasound scanning robotic system with optical waveguide-based force measurement. Int J CARS 16, 1015–1025 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-021-02385-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-021-02385-2

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