An ergonomic handheld ultrasound probe providing contact forces and pose information

TY - JOUR

T1 - An ergonomic handheld ultrasound probe providing contact forces and pose information

AU - Noh, Yohan

AU - Housden, R James

AU - Gomez, Alberto

AU - Knight, Caroline

AU - Garcia, Francesca

AU - Liu, Hongbin

AU - Razavi, Reza

AU - Rhode, Kawal

AU - Althoefer, Kaspar

PY - 2015/11/5

Y1 - 2015/11/5

N2 - This paper presents a handheld ultrasound probe which is integrated with sensors to measure force and pose (position/orientation) information. Using an integrated probe like this, one can relate ultrasound images to spatial location and create 3D ultrasound maps. The handheld device can be used by sonographers and also easily be integrated with robot arms for automated sonography. The handheld device is ergonomically designed; rapid attachment and removal of the ultrasound transducer itself is possible using easy-to-operate clip mechanisms. A cable locking mechanism reduces the impact that gravitational and other external forces have (originating from data and power supply cables connected to the probe) on our measurements. Gravitational errors introduced by the housing of the probe are compensated for using knowledge of the housing geometry and the integrated pose sensor that provides us with accurate orientation information. In this paper, we describe the handheld probe with its integrated force/pose sensors and our approach to gravity compensation. We carried out a set of experiments to verify the feasibility of our approach to obtain accurate spatial information of the handheld probe.

AB - This paper presents a handheld ultrasound probe which is integrated with sensors to measure force and pose (position/orientation) information. Using an integrated probe like this, one can relate ultrasound images to spatial location and create 3D ultrasound maps. The handheld device can be used by sonographers and also easily be integrated with robot arms for automated sonography. The handheld device is ergonomically designed; rapid attachment and removal of the ultrasound transducer itself is possible using easy-to-operate clip mechanisms. A cable locking mechanism reduces the impact that gravitational and other external forces have (originating from data and power supply cables connected to the probe) on our measurements. Gravitational errors introduced by the housing of the probe are compensated for using knowledge of the housing geometry and the integrated pose sensor that provides us with accurate orientation information. In this paper, we describe the handheld probe with its integrated force/pose sensors and our approach to gravity compensation. We carried out a set of experiments to verify the feasibility of our approach to obtain accurate spatial information of the handheld probe.

U2 - 10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319704

DO - 10.1109/EMBC.2015.7319704

M3 - Article

C2 - 26737604

SN - 1557-170X

VL - 2015

SP - 5773

EP - 5776

JO - 2008 30th Annual International Conference Of The Ieee Engineering In Medicine And Biology Society, Vols 1-8

JF - 2008 30th Annual International Conference Of The Ieee Engineering In Medicine And Biology Society, Vols 1-8

ER -