Chandrashekhara SH, Rangarajan K, Agrawal A, Thulkar S, Gamanagatti S, Raina D, Saha SK, Arora C. Robotic ultrasound: An initial feasibility study. World J Methodol 2022; 12(4): 274-284 [PMID: 36159101 DOI: 10.5662/wjm.v12.i4.274]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sheragaru Hanumanthappa Chandrashekhara, MD, Additional Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India. drchandruradioaiims@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Article-Type of This Article
Prospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Sheragaru Hanumanthappa Chandrashekhara, Krithika Rangarajan, Ayushi Agrawal, Sanjay Thulkar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India
Deepak Raina, Subir Kumar Saha, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 110016, India
Chetan Arora, Department of Computer Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 110016, India
Author contributions: Chandrashekhara SH led the study in its conception, study design, statistical design, and manuscript writing and editing; all the authors have contributed in manuscript writing, study design and conduct, and statistical analysis.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi Institutional Review Board [Approval No. IEC-855/04.09.2020, RP-16/2020)].
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at drchandruradioaiims@gmail.com.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sheragaru Hanumanthappa Chandrashekhara, MD, Additional Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, Delhi, India. drchandruradioaiims@gmail.com
Received: January 23, 2022 Peer-review started: January 23, 2022 First decision: March 25, 2022 Revised: April 8, 2022 Accepted: June 3, 2022 Article in press: June 3, 2022 Published online: July 20, 2022 Processing time: 177 Days and 16.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Performing ultrasound during the current pandemic time is quite challenging. To reduce the chances of cross-infection and keep healthcare workers safe, a robotic ultrasound system was developed, which can be controlled remotely. It will also pave way for broadening the reach of ultrasound in remote distant rural areas as well.
AIM
To assess the feasibility of a robotic system in performing abdominal ultrasound and compare it with the conventional ultrasound system.
METHODS
A total of 21 healthy volunteers were recruited. Ultrasound was performed in two settings, using the robotic arm and conventional hand-held procedure. Images acquired were analyzed by separate radiologists.
RESULTS
Our study showed that the robotic arm model was feasible, and the results varied based on the organ imaged. The liver images showed no significant difference. For other organs, the need for repeat imaging was higher in the robotic arm, which could be attributed to the radiologist’s learning curve and ability to control the haptic device. The doctor and volunteer surveys also showed significant comfort with acceptance of the technology and they expressed their desire to use it in the future.
CONCLUSION
This study shows that robotic ultrasound is feasible and is the need of the hour during the pandemic.
Core Tip: Robotic ultrasound aims to provide remote ultrasound access through a robotic system. This system allows the radiologist to manipulate the ultrasound probe remotely from a safe distant location, in a separate enclosure, thus ensuring the safety of the sonologist and negating the need for a personal protective equipment kit each time, especially in the current coronavirus pandemic. System setup in an intensive care unit (ICU) could ensure that the sonologist can perform the ultrasound without needing to enter the ICU. Going forward, a distance transmission system may also be potentially developed so that patients can also access care at a convenient location without the need to travel long distances, further breaking the chain of transmission. This can be invaluable in a setting where healthcare is not widely available, such as in underserved rural areas.
