Development of a Support System for Handling Ultrasound Probe to Alleviate Fatigue of Physician by Introducing a Coordinated Motion with Robot

Abstract

We have developed a support system using our ultrasound diagnosis robot, which is able to support manual handling of ultrasound probe in echography to alleviate fatigue of physician. This system realizes a coordinated motion according to the motion of the probe, which is held by the robot and is moved by a physician. We have established four kinds of situations, which are initial fixation, coordinate motions with/without contact on the body surface, and automatic chase motion of an internal organ. The system recognizes when the physician grasps the ultrasound probe by 6-axis force sensor and touches it on body surface by processing echograms. Not only unskilled examiners but also a professional sonographer have evaluated the performance of the system after elucidating multiple parameters for compliance control and self-weight compensation of the probe. As the results, this system has the potential to be able to support advanced diagnosis for conventional echography.