Robot helps with intra-operative ultrasound

Controlled through a virtual reality parallel system as a digital twin, the robot is said to image a patient through ultrasound without the hand cramping or radiation exposure that hinder human operators. The team, including researchers from Kings College London and Davinder Singh of Xtronics in Gravesend, published their method in IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica.

Robotic arms could give surgeons a hand in future spinal surgery

"Intra-operative ultrasound is especially useful, as it can guide the surgery by providing real-time images of otherwise hidden devices and anatomy," said paper author Fei-Yue Wang, director of the State Key Laboratory of Management and Control of Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. "However, the need for highly specialised skills is always a barrier for reliable and repeatable acquisition."

Wang noted that the availability of onsite sonographers can be limited, and that many procedures requiring intra-operative ultrasound often involve X-ray imaging, which could expose the operator to harmful radiation. To mitigate these challenges, Wang and his team developed a platform for robotic intra-operative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), an imaging technique used to diagnose heart disease and guide cardiac surgical procedures.