Robotically assisted ultrasound interventions

Abstract

The goal of this project is to develop a robotic system to assist the physician in minimally invasive ultrasound interventions. In current practice, the physician must manually hold the ultrasound probe in one hand and manipulate the needle with the other hand, which can be challenging, particularly when trying to target small lesions. To assist the physician, the robot should not only be capable of providing the spatial movement needed, but also be able to control the contact force between the ultrasound probe and patient. To meet these requirements, we are developing a prototype system based on a six degree of freedom parallel robot. The system will provide high bandwidth, precision motion, and force control. In this paper we report on our progress to date, including the development of a PC-based control system and the results of our initial experiments.