Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound Imaging
Ultrasound imaging is widely valued for its safety, non-invasiveness, and real-time capabilities but is often limited by operator variability, affecting image quality and reproducibility. Robot-assisted ultrasound may provide a solution by delivering more consistent, precise, and faster scans, poten...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/2/468 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832587491841933312 |
|---|---|
| author | Yixuan Zheng Hongyuan Ning Eason Rangarajan Aban Merali Adam Geale Lukas Lindenroth Zhouyang Xu Weizhao Wang Philipp Kruse Steven Morris Liang Ye Xinyi Fu Kawal Rhode Richard James Housden |
| author_facet | Yixuan Zheng Hongyuan Ning Eason Rangarajan Aban Merali Adam Geale Lukas Lindenroth Zhouyang Xu Weizhao Wang Philipp Kruse Steven Morris Liang Ye Xinyi Fu Kawal Rhode Richard James Housden |
| author_sort | Yixuan Zheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ultrasound imaging is widely valued for its safety, non-invasiveness, and real-time capabilities but is often limited by operator variability, affecting image quality and reproducibility. Robot-assisted ultrasound may provide a solution by delivering more consistent, precise, and faster scans, potentially reducing human error and healthcare costs. Effective force control is crucial in robotic ultrasound scanning to ensure consistent image quality and patient safety. However, existing robotic ultrasound systems rely heavily on expensive commercial force sensors or the integrated sensors of commercial robotic arms, limiting their accessibility. To address these challenges, we developed a cost-effective, lightweight, 3D-printed force sensor and a hybrid position–force control strategy tailored for robotic ultrasound scanning. The system integrates patient-to-robot registration, automated scanning path planning, and multi-sensor data fusion, allowing the robot to autonomously locate the patient, target the region of interest, and maintain optimal contact force during scanning. Validation was conducted using an ultrasound-compatible abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) phantom created from patient CT data and healthy volunteer testing. For the volunteer testing, during a 1-min scan, 65% of the forces were within the good image range. Both volunteers reported no discomfort or pain during the whole procedure. These results demonstrate the potential of the system to provide safe, precise, and autonomous robotic ultrasound imaging in real-world conditions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-46d1480e04874af2a7cdf7243668ad48 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj-art-46d1480e04874af2a7cdf7243668ad482025-01-24T13:49:03ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-01-0125246810.3390/s25020468Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound ImagingYixuan Zheng0Hongyuan Ning1Eason Rangarajan2Aban Merali3Adam Geale4Lukas Lindenroth5Zhouyang Xu6Weizhao Wang7Philipp Kruse8Steven Morris9Liang Ye10Xinyi Fu11Kawal Rhode12Richard James Housden13School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaSchool of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKSchool of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 7EH, UKUltrasound imaging is widely valued for its safety, non-invasiveness, and real-time capabilities but is often limited by operator variability, affecting image quality and reproducibility. Robot-assisted ultrasound may provide a solution by delivering more consistent, precise, and faster scans, potentially reducing human error and healthcare costs. Effective force control is crucial in robotic ultrasound scanning to ensure consistent image quality and patient safety. However, existing robotic ultrasound systems rely heavily on expensive commercial force sensors or the integrated sensors of commercial robotic arms, limiting their accessibility. To address these challenges, we developed a cost-effective, lightweight, 3D-printed force sensor and a hybrid position–force control strategy tailored for robotic ultrasound scanning. The system integrates patient-to-robot registration, automated scanning path planning, and multi-sensor data fusion, allowing the robot to autonomously locate the patient, target the region of interest, and maintain optimal contact force during scanning. Validation was conducted using an ultrasound-compatible abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) phantom created from patient CT data and healthy volunteer testing. For the volunteer testing, during a 1-min scan, 65% of the forces were within the good image range. Both volunteers reported no discomfort or pain during the whole procedure. These results demonstrate the potential of the system to provide safe, precise, and autonomous robotic ultrasound imaging in real-world conditions.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/2/468robot-assisted ultrasound imagingforce control for robotic systemsforce sensor designmedical roboticsmulti-sensor fusionultrasound-compatible phantom design |
| spellingShingle | Yixuan Zheng Hongyuan Ning Eason Rangarajan Aban Merali Adam Geale Lukas Lindenroth Zhouyang Xu Weizhao Wang Philipp Kruse Steven Morris Liang Ye Xinyi Fu Kawal Rhode Richard James Housden Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound Imaging Sensors robot-assisted ultrasound imaging force control for robotic systems force sensor design medical robotics multi-sensor fusion ultrasound-compatible phantom design |
| title | Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound Imaging |
| title_full | Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound Imaging |
| title_fullStr | Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound Imaging |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound Imaging |
| title_short | Design of a Cost-Effective Ultrasound Force Sensor and Force Control System for Robotic Extra-Body Ultrasound Imaging |
| title_sort | design of a cost effective ultrasound force sensor and force control system for robotic extra body ultrasound imaging |
| topic | robot-assisted ultrasound imaging force control for robotic systems force sensor design medical robotics multi-sensor fusion ultrasound-compatible phantom design |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/2/468 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yixuanzheng designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT hongyuanning designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT easonrangarajan designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT abanmerali designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT adamgeale designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT lukaslindenroth designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT zhouyangxu designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT weizhaowang designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT philippkruse designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT stevenmorris designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT liangye designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT xinyifu designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT kawalrhode designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging AT richardjameshousden designofacosteffectiveultrasoundforcesensorandforcecontrolsystemforroboticextrabodyultrasoundimaging |