Current challenges in automated robotic breast ultrasound (US) acquisitions include keeping acoustic coupling between the breast and the US probe, minimizing tissue deformations and safety. In this paper, we present how an autonomous 3D breast US acquisition can be performed utilizing a 7DOF robot equipped with a linear US transducer. Robotic 3D breast US acquisitions would increase the diagnostic value of the modality since they allow patient specific scans and have a high reproducibility, accuracy and efficiency. Additionally, 3D US acquisitions allow more flexibility in examining the breast and simplify registration with preoperative images like MRI. To overcome the current challenges, the robot follows a referencebased trajectory adjusted by a visual servoing algorithm. The reference trajectory is a patient specific trajectory coming from e.g. an MRI. The visual servoing algorithm commands in-plane rotations and corrects the probe contact based on confidence maps. A safety aware, intrinsically passive framework is utilised to actuate the robot. The approach is illustrated with experiments on a phantom, which show that the robot only needs minor pre-procedural information to consistently image the phantom while relying mainly on US feedback.

One out of eight women will get breast cancer during their lifetime. A biopsy, a procedure in which a tissue sample is acquired from the lesion, is required to confirm the diagnosis. A biopsy is preferably executed under ultrasound (US) guidance because it is simple, fast, and cheap, gives real-time image feedback and causes little patient discomfort. However, Magnetic Resonance (MR)-detected lesions may be barely or not visible on US and difficult to find due to deformations of the breast. This paper presents a robotic setup and workflow that assists the radiologist in targeting MR-detected breast lesions under US guidance, taking into account deformations and giving the radiologist robotic accuracy. The setup consists of a seven degree-of-freedom robotic serial manipulator equipped with an end-effector carrying a US transducer and a three degree-of-freedom actuated needle guide. During probe positioning, the US probe is positioned on the patient's skin while the system tracks skin contact and tissue deformation. During the intervention phase, the radiologist inserts the needle through the actuated guide. During insertion, the tissue deformation is tracked and the needle path is adjusted accordingly. The workflow is demonstrated on a breast phantom. It is shown that lesions with a radius down to 2.9 mm can be targeted. While MRI is becoming more important in breast cancer detection, the presented robot-assisted approach helps the radiologist to effectively and accurately confirm the diagnosis utilizing the preferred US-guided method.

Breast cancer affects one out of eight women.

Background Hollow, bendable manipulators can advance implant delivery in minimally invasive surgery, by circumventing the drawbacks of straight‐line delivery and fostering single‐port approaches. Variable stiffness manipulators are sought to be safe and effective. Methods We designed and experimentally assessed a cable‐driven articulated/continuum manipulator, devised for cardiac valve delivery. Positioning and stiffening were teleoperated, based on cable shortening. Stiffening was parameterized by using the leading tension (LT, ie, tension of the cables driving bending). We assessed positioning (repeatability/reversibility along eight/two bending directions) and stiffening (eight bent configurations). Results We achieved good repeatability and reversibility (mean errors <1% and 1.5%, respectively, of the workspace characteristic length). Stiffening was effective (up to 9‐fold increase, depending on pose). Stiffening was linearly correlated (R2 = 0.92) with LT for all the considered configurations. Conclusion We accurately positioned and effectively stiffened the manipulator in several bent configurations. The proposed stiffness modulation strategy can be extended to other manipulators.

One in eight females will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, making it the most diagnosed cancer globally [1]. Three phases are essential for the outcome of breast cancer; early detection, accurate diag- nosis and treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has proven to be highly sensitive in detecting possible tu- mors lesions compared to other image modalities. How- ever, ultrasound (US) guided biopsies are the standard and biopsies on MRI detected lesions is challenging, because these lesions may not be visible on US images. Registration of pre-operative MRI with the intra- operative US combines the benefits of both imaging modalities and subsequently improve tumor localisation. Therefore, this work presents an US image-based sur- face reconstruction based on autonomous acquired US images to increase the accuracy of MRI/US registration. Thereby the proposed work eliminates the need for inter- sensor calibration as would be needed if stereo camera- based, depth camera-based or marker-based breast sur- face reconstruction would be used.