Diagnostic Posture Control System for Seated-Style Echocardiography Robot

Purpose: Conventional robotic ultrasound systems were utilized with patients in supine positions. Meanwhile, the limitation of the systems is that it is difficult to evacuate the patients in case of emergency (e.g., patient discomfort and system failure) because the patients are restricted between the robot system and bed. Then, it is ideal that the patient undergoes the examination in the sitting position in terms of safety. Therefore, we validated a feasibility study of seated-style echocardiography using a robot. Method: Preliminary experiments were conducted to verify the following two points: (1) the possibility of obtaining cardiac disease features in the sitting posture as well as in the conventional examination, and (2) the relationship between posture angle and physical burden. For reducing the physical burden, two unique mechanisms were incorporated into the system: (1) a leg pendulum base mechanism to reduce the load on the legs when the lateral bending angle increases, and (2) a roll angle division by a lumbar lateral bending and thoracic rotation mechanisms. Results: Preliminary results demonstrated that adjusting the diagnostic posture angle enabled us to obtain the views, including cardiac disease features, as in the conventional examination. The results showed that the body burden increased as the posture's lateral bending angle increased. The results also demonstrated that the body load reduction mechanism incorporated in the results could reduce the physical load in the seated echocardiography. Conclusion: These results showed the potential of the seated-style echocardiography robot.