A telerobotic manipulation system for an immerse ultrasonic examination using haptic constraints

A key issue for the image quality enhancement in an immerse ultrasound examination is to keep the ultrasound probe at a suitable distance and orientation from the surface to be scanned. This is a difficult task to be performed by a human operator, since the distance perceived by the human eye can be affected by the optical distortion produced by the liquid. Therefore, a master/slave system with haptic feedback is proposed as a novel solution to assist the clinician to achieve an optimal positioning of the probe while performing an immerse ultrasound examination. A custom proximity sensor is used to estimate both the distance and orientation of the probe from the surface to be scanned. Such information is used both to control the probe orientation and to generate a feedback force at the master side, which simulates the presence of a virtual constraint, with a certain mechanical impedance, located above the object surface.