Automated robotic breast ultrasound acquisition using ultrasound feedback

Abstract

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.

Robotic Ultrasound Scanning With Real-Time Image-Based Force Adjustment: Quick Response for Enabling Physical Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The output of C-CNN is the binary label segmentation of the US image. The method proposed in Chatelain et al ( 2015 ) and Welleweerd et al ( 2020 ) use confidence map, which was proposed in Karamalis et al ( 2012 ) for orienting and moving the US probe during scanning of the tissue. Confidence map methods are based on US signal propagation model inside of the tissue and the outcome is a map that can be used for feature extraction.…”

Breast intervention surgery robot under image navigation: A review

“…The ultrasonic probe operated by the robot can produce accurate 3D ultrasonic volume reconstruction. Welleweerd et al 104 used ultrasonic transducer to track the target point, and input tracking parameters into the SAIP control algorithm to drive the robot. The visual servo algorithm corrects the contact position of the probe according to the confidence map.…”

Robot-assisted biopsies on mr-detected lesions

“…Especially in medical settings, robots should function consistently and in a compliant manner while varying obstacles and complex trajectories demand much of the robot's control. In the MRI and Ultrasound Robotic Assisted Biopsy (MURAB) project, we have been working on robotic volumetric breast ultrasound acquisitions (Figure 3.1) [139]. The MURAB project is just one example where the dexterity and precision of a redundant robotic manipulator are ideally suited for patient-specific trajectories and accurate localization of the acquired ultrasound slices.…”

“…Current methods are surface reconstruction based on stereo cameras [68] or a depth camera [163] and the registration of MRI data based on multi modality markers [170]. Patient-specific paths may be generated by projecting a generic path on a tessellated surface representing the patient [139].…”

“…Kim et al [76] link the applied force to the image quality. Our previous work showed that confidence maps are also an option to keep the US probe in contact with the tissue [139]. The advantage of image feedback over a constant normal force is the application of similar deformations for both softer and harder tissue.…”