Table 1.
Overview of teleoperated and collaborative robotic ultrasound systems and their respective components, published between 2015 and 2020
| Topic | System/institution | Medical field(s) | Robot | Key system components | In vivo/phantom study | LORA | Year | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Force measurement | Ultrasound probe | Camera system | User interface | |||||||
| Teleoperation | MGIUS-R3, Shenzhen, China | Not specified | Serial; 6 DOF; custom design | External F sensor | Not specified | Not specified | Dummy probe (6 DOF, robot control), keyboard (US control) | Patient volunteer (1) | 1 | 2020 | [13] |
| MELODY, Naveil, France | Cardiac, abdominal, vascular, pelvic, urinary, prenatal | Serial; 3 active DOF rotation, 3 passive DOF translation (manual); custom design | External F sensor; 20 N limit | Convex probe; C5-2 [BK Medical] | RGB camera (webcam conferencing) | Haptic device (6 DOF, custom, robot control), tablet/keyboard (US control) | Patient volunteers (> 300) | 2 | 2016; 2017; 2018 | [14–16, 17•] | |
| ReMeDi, Lublin, Poland | Cardiac, abdominal | Serial; 7 active DOF; custom design to reproduce human examiner | External FT sensor (6 DOF); max. force 40 N | Not specified | RGB camera (webcam conferencing) | Haptic device (6 DOF, custom, robot control) | Patient volunteers (> 10) | 2 | 2016; 2017; 2019; 2020 | [18–20, 21••] | |
| TOURS (Sonoscanner-CNES), Tours, France | Abdominal, vascular, pelvic, prenatal | Parallel; 3 active DOF rotation, translational placement manual; custom design | None | 3D convex probe and linear probes; [Vermon] | RGB camera (webcam conferencing) | Dummy probe (robot control), keyboard (US control) | Patient volunteers (> 100) | 1 | 2016; 2018 | [22, 23•] | |
| ROBO Health Institute, Shenzhen, China | Not specified | Serial; 6 DOF (× 3 prismatic, × 3 revolute); custom design | External F sensor (6 DOF) | Convex probe; [SonoStar] | RGB camera (webcam conferencing) | Keyboard (robot translation), dummy probe (robot rotation) | Healthy volunteer (1) | 2 | 2017 | [24] | |
| CNMC, Washington, USA | Not specified | Parallel; 6 DOF (fine positioning); custom design | External FT sensor (6 DOF) | Convex probe; 4C2 [Terason] | RGB camera (webcam conferencing) | Haptic device (6 DOF, [Phantom, Omni], robot control) | Phantom | 2 | 2015 | [25] | |
| ROBIN, Oslo, Norway | Not specified | Serial; 6 DOF; UR5 [Universal Robots] | Internal T sensors; external F sensor (6 DOF) | Linear probe; [GE] | Not specified | Haptic device (6 DOF, [Phantom, Omni], robot control) | Phantom | 2 | 2016 | [26] | |
| BME-SJTU, Shanghai, China | Not specified | Serial; 6 DOF; UR5 [Universal Robots] | Internal T sensors | Convex array probe; CLA3.5 [Vermon & prototype US] | Not specified | Haptic device (6 DOF, [Touch, 3D System Corp.], robot control) | Phantom | 2 | 2020 | [27] | |
| ISR, Coimbra, Portugal | Not specified | Serial; 7 DOF; WAM [Barrett] | External F sensor (6 DOF) | Convex probe; Titan C15 [SonoSite] | Monochrome-D camera; CamBoard nano [pmd[vision]] | Haptic device (6 DOF, [Phantom, Omni], robot control) | Healthy volunteer (1) | 2 | 2015; 2018 | [28, 29] | |
| OPTIMAL, Xi’an, China | Vascular | Serial; 6 DOF; C4 [Epson] | None | Convex and linear probe; C7-3/50 and L9-4/38 [Ultrasonix] | 4 RGB cameras (webcam conferencing) | Joystick (controller) | Healthy volunteer (1) | 1 | 2019 | [30] | |
| Collaborative assistance | CRCHUM, Montréal, Canada | Iliac-popliteal artery | Serial; 6 DOF; CRS F3 [Thermo CRS] | None | Linear probe; FLA-10 [GE] and L12-5 [Philips] | None | Display of volume rendering | Patient volunteers (2) | 4 | 2014 | [32] |
| CAMP, Munich, Germany | Orthopedic | Serial; 7 DOF; LBR iiwa [KUKA] | Internal T sensors | Convex probe; C5-2/60 [Ultrasonix] | None | Not specified | Healthy volunteer (1) | 4 | 2020 | [33] | |
| Soft tissue | Serial; 7 DOF; LBR iiwa [KUKA] | Internal T sensors | Linear probe; [Ultrasonix] | None | Not specified | Healthy volunteers (30) | 4 | 2018 | [34•] | ||
| Spine | Serial; 7 DOF; LBR iiwa [KUKA] | Internal T sensors | Convex probe; C5-2/60 [Ultrasonix] | None | Display of volume rendering | Patient volunteers (2) | 3 | 2018 | [39•] | ||
| Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, USA | Not specified | Serial; 6 DOF; UR5 [Universal Robot] | External FT sensor (6 DOF) [Robotiq] | Convex probe; C5-2 [Ultrasonix] | None | Hand guidance with virtual walls | Phantom | 4 | 2016 | [35] | |
| PLA, Beijing, China | Liver | Serial; 6 DOF; UR5 [Universal Robot] | None | Convex probe; [Minddray] | None | Controller and display unit | Animal tissue | 4 | 2018 | [36] | |
| Rutgers, New Brunswick, USA | Forearm vessels | Serial; 3 DOF; custom design | Not specified | Linear probe; [Telemed] | NIR camera; custom design | Not specified | Healthy volunteers (9) | 4 | 2016 | [37•] | |
| IRISA, Rennes, France and TUM, Munich, Germany | Generic needle guidance | × 2 serial; 6 DOF; Viper s650 [Adept] | Not specified | 3D convex probe; 4DC7-3/40 [Ultrasonix] | None | Display of highlighted needle position | Phantom | 4 | 2015 | [38] | |
| IPCB, Castelo Branco, Portugal | Femoral orthopedic | Serial; 7 DOF; LBR [KUKA] | None | Linear probe; [Aloka] | Tracking camera; Polaris Spectra [NDI] | Not specified | Phantom | 4 | 2015 | [40] | |
F force, FT force-torque, max maximum, Ref references, T torque, US ultrasound