A Flexible and Fully Autonomous Breast Ultrasound Scanning System

Tan, Jiyong1,2,3; Li, Bing3; Li, Yuanwei3; Li, Bin3; Chen, Xinxing4,5; Wu, Jiayi6; Luo, Baoming6; Leng, Yuquan4,5; Rong, Yiming4,5; Fu, Chenglong4,5

2022-07-01

10.1109/TASE.2022.3189339

IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering   Impact Factor & Quartile

1545-5955

1558-3783

The quality of breast ultrasound imaging is greatly affected by the contact force of the probe, which largely requires experienced sonographers to complete the clinical examination. We propose a flexible and fully autonomous ultrasound scanning system for breast ultrasound imaging. It consists of an ultrasound machine, a dual robotic arms system, a multi-structured light system, a human-computer interaction system, and a flexible ultrasound probe clamping device (FUPCD). First, the dynamics model of' the FUPCD was analyzed, and a closed-loop force control strategy was established. We then implemented an automatic scanning system. The hysteresis characteristics of the FUPCD and transient response of the force controller were experimentally verified. The system could keep the steady-state error less than +/- 5% within 0.5 s. Second, the performance of the control system to maintain constant contact force at different scanning speeds (<20 mm/s) was evaluated. In a series of comparative studies, the fluctuation range of the target contact force applied by the flexible automatic scanning was 10%. The force control capability of the system was 30.84 times higher than that of traditional manual scanning, 18.48 times higher than that of flexible automatic scanning (FC off), and 24.3 times higher than that of rigid automatic scanning (FC on). Furthermore, the effectiveness of the FUPCD arc design and flexibility was verified. In addition, the change trend of the average grayscale level (GSL) of the ultrasound image was basically the same as the contact force, demonstrating that the stability and repeatability of the ultrasound image can be improved by controlling the stability of the contact force. In conclusion, the proposed system can simplify the workflow of breast ultrasound examination and improve the diagnostic capabilities of the ultrasound imaging system.

Breast ultrasound flexible contact force automatic scanning image quality

SCI ; EI

English

Corresponding

National Key Research and Development Program of China[2018YFC2001601] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China["U1913205","62103180"] ; Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation[2020B1515120098] ; Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality[ZDSYS20200811143601004] ; Stable Support Plan Program of Shenzhen Natural Science Fund[20200925174640002] ; Liaoning Key Research and Development Program Foundation[2020JH2/10300122] ; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation[2021M701577]

Automation & Control Systems

Automation & Control Systems

WOS:000829078900001

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

20223112530177

Force control ; Human computer interaction ; Image enhancement ; Image resolution ; Imaging systems ; Medical imaging ; Position control ; Quality control ; Robotic arms ; Scanning ; Ultrasonic imaging ; Visual servoing

Biomedical Engineering:461.1 ; Specific Variables Control:731.3 ; Robotics:731.5 ; Imaging Techniques:746 ; Quality Assurance and Control:913.3

Web of Science

1.Harbin Inst Technol, Sch Mechatron Engn, Harbin 150006, Peoples R China
2.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
3.AISONO Air Lab, Shenzhen 518052, Peoples R China
4.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Shenzhen Key Lab Biomimet Robot & Intelligent Sys, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
5.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Guangdong Prov Key Lab Human Augmentat & Rehabil, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
6.Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sun Yat Sen Mem Hosp, Dept Ultrasound, Guangzhou 510120, Peoples R China

Tan, Jiyong,Li, Bing,Li, Yuanwei,et al. A Flexible and Fully Autonomous Breast Ultrasound Scanning System[J]. IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering,2022,PP(99):1-14.

Tan, Jiyong.,Li, Bing.,Li, Yuanwei.,Li, Bin.,Chen, Xinxing.,...&Fu, Chenglong.(2022).A Flexible and Fully Autonomous Breast Ultrasound Scanning System.IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering,PP(99),1-14.

Tan, Jiyong,et al."A Flexible and Fully Autonomous Breast Ultrasound Scanning System".IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering PP.99(2022):1-14.