title: A tele-operated mobile ultrasound scanner using a light-weight robot.
abstract: This paper presents a new tele-operated robotic chain for real-time ultrasound image acquisition and medical diagnosis. This system has been developed in the frame of the Mobile Tele-Echography Using an Ultralight Robot European Project. A light-weight six degrees-of-freedom serial robot, with a remote center of motion, has been specially designed for this application. It holds and moves a real probe on a distant patient according to the expert gesture and permits an image acquisition using a standard ultrasound device. The combination of mechanical structure choice for the robot and dedicated control law, particularly nearby the singular configuration allows a good path following and a robotized gesture accuracy. The choice of compression techniques for image transmission enables a compromise between flow and quality. These combined approaches, for robotics and image processing, enable the medical specialist to better control the remote ultrasound probe holder system and to receive stable and good quality ultrasound images to make a diagnosis via any type of communication link from terrestrial to satellite. Clinical tests have been performed since April 2003. They used both satellite or Integrated Services Digital Network lines with a theoretical bandwidth of 384 Kb/s. They showed the tele-echography system helped to identify 66% of lesions and 83% of symptomatic pathologies.
authors.affiliation: Laborotoire Vision and Robotics, University of Orleans, Bourges 18020, France. Cecile.Delgorge@bourges.univ-orleans.fr
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delgorge
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Courrèges
authors.forename: Lama
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Al Bassit
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Novales
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosenberger
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Smith-Guerin
authors.forename: Concepció
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brù
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gilabert
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vannoni
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poisson
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vieyres
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000552:Ambulances; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D003199:Computer Systems; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008904:Miniaturization; D009862:Online Systems; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012984:Software; D012985:Software Design; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface