title: Automatic guidance of an ultrasound probe by visual servoing based on B-mode image moments.
abstract: We propose a new visual servo approach to automatically control in real-time the full motion of a 2D ultrasound (US) probe held by a medical robot in order to reach a desired image of motionless soft tissue object in B-mode ultrasound imaging. Combinations of image moments of the observed object cross-section are used as feedback information in the visual control scheme. These visual features are extracted in real-time from the US image thanks to a fast image segmentation method. Simulations performed with a static US volume containing an egg-shaped object, and ex-vivo experiments using a robotized US probe that interacts with a motionless rabbit heart immersed in water, show the validity of this new approach and its robustness to different perturbations. This method shows promise for a variety of US-guided medical interventions that require real-time servoing.
authors.affiliation: IRISA, INRIA Rennes-Bretagne Atlantique, 35042 Rennes, France. Rafik.Mebarki@irisa.fr
authors.forename: Rafik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mebarki
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krupa
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Collewet
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*