Three dimensional motion mechanism of ultrasound probe and its application for tele-echography system

Abstract

We have developed a three dimensional movable robot for an ultrasound probe for tele-echography system to apply between hospital, clinic and home. The probe movable mechanism is carefully designed not to damage the human body since miniature force sensors detect not only total contact force to the body surface but also angle of the probe to the surface. Angle and position of probe are controlled not to exceed dangerous contact force. We tried to control it via LAN and 128K ISDN by using a two-axis joystick under the Object Request Broker technique. We found that real time control was possible with an image stream. Though the delay time of the image makes the examiner stressful, we confirmed that remote diagnosis of the human abdomen is useful.