3D Ultrasound Could Turn Autonomous Robot Surgery into a Reality

In the near future, robots may perform surgery on patients in dangerous situations or in remote locations, such as on the battlefield or in space, with minimal human guidance.

Researchers at Duke University (Durham, NC, USA) developed a rudimentary tabletop robot, which processes real-time three-dimensional (3D) information obtained via ‘eyes' based on a novel 3D ultrasound technology. An artificial intelligence (AI) program serves as the robot's brain, processing the information, giving the robot specific commands to perform. In one experiment, the robot successfully performed its main task, directing a needle on the end of the robotic arm to touch the tip of another needle within a blood vessel graft. The robot's needle was guided by a tiny 3D ultrasound transducer attached to a catheter commonly used in angioplasty procedures. The experiment was detailed in a study published in the May 2008 online issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control (TUFFC).

In earlier experiments, the tabletop robot arm successfully touched a needle on the arm to another needle in a water bath; then it performed a simulated biopsy of a cyst, fashioned out of a liquid-filled balloon in a medium designed to simulate tissue. The results of these experiments were published in the April 2008 edition of the journal Ultrasonic Imaging.

"Currently, cardiologists doing catheter-based procedures use fluoroscopy, which employs radiation, to guide their actions. Putting a 3D ultrasound transducer on the end of the catheter could provide clearer images to the physician and greatly reduce the need for patients to be exposed to radiation,” said Professor Stephen Smith, Ph.D., director of the Duke University ultrasound transducer group and senior member of the research team. "Given that we achieved these early results with a rudimentary robot and a basic artificial intelligence program, the technology will advance to the point where robots - without the guidance of the doctor - can someday operate on people.”

The researchers added that adding this 3D capability to more powerful and sophisticated surgical robots already in use at many hospitals could hasten the development of autonomous robots that could perform complex procedures on humans.


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