Towards Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound Scanning using Pneumatically Attachable Flexible Rails

Abstract

Robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) is a surgi- cal procedure that employs robotics to remove a portion of diseased kidney. During the procedure, a drop-in Ultrasound (US) probe is used to identify the resec- tion margins. Although the robot facilitates the task, the scanning of the kidney proves challenging due to slippage and requires a highly skilled surgeon [1]. In previous work [2], we presented a Pneumatically Attach- able Flexible (PAF) rail to enable stable, track-guided US scanning of the kidney during RAPN. In [3] and [4], we have investigated the autonomous deployment of the PAF rail on the surface of the organ and their use in intraoperative organ manipulation. In [5], Wang et al. studied the 3-D reconstruction of a mass embedded in a kidney phantom when the PAF rail guides the US probe. In this work, we investigate autonomous control during the US scanning using the PAF rails, specifically using fibre-optic shape-sensing data as the input for path- planning. First, we present the design and fabrication of the sensorized PAF rail; then we assess the performance of real-time curvature sensing with the sensorized PAF rail system on rigid and soft phantoms; finally, we demonstrate how the PAF rail local shape data can be used to plan a trajectory and autonomously guide an intraoperative US probe.