Use of a Force-Torque Sensor for Self-Calibration of a 6-DOF Medical Robot.

The aim of this paper is to improve the position accuracy of a six degree of freedom medical robot. The improvement in accuracy is achieved without the use of any external measurement device. Instead, this work presents a novel calibration approach based on using an embedded force-torque sensor to identify the robot's kinematic parameters and thereby enhance the positioning accuracy.

A Robotic Ultrasound Scanner for Automatic Vessel Tracking and Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of B-Mode Images.

Locating and evaluating the length and severity of a stenosis is very important for planning adequate treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Conventional ultrasound (US) examination cannot provide maps of entire lower limb arteries in 3-D. We propose a prototype 3D-US robotic system with B-mode images, which is nonionizing, noninvasive, and is able to track and reconstruct a continuous segment of the lower limb arterial tree between the groin and the knee.

A new dynamic model of the wheelchair propulsion on straight and curvilinear level-ground paths.

Independent-roller ergometers (IREs) are commonly used to simulate the behaviour of a wheelchair propelled in a straight line. They cannot, however, simulate curvilinear propulsion. To this effect, a motorised wheelchair ergometer could be used, provided that a dynamic model of the wheelchair-user system propelled on straight and curvilinear paths (WSC) is available.

A new dynamic model of the manual wheelchair for straight and curvilinear propulsion.

Due to their mechanical design, current wheelchair ergometers cannot simulate the behaviour of a wheelchair propelled on curvilinear paths. This is because they implement a dynamic model of the Wheelchair-user system propelled on Straight Line only (WSL). In this paper, we present a new dynamic model of the Wheelchair-user propelled on Straight and Curvilinear paths (WSC), along with a characterization method based on measurements recorded on the field.

Performance evaluation of a medical robotic 3D-ultrasound imaging system.

3D-ultrasound (US) imaging systems offer many advantages such as convenience, low operative costs and multiple scanning options. Most 3D-US freehand tracking systems are not optimally adapted for the quantification of lower limb arterial stenoses because their performance depends on the scanning length, on ferro-magnetic interferences or because they require a constant line of sight with the US probe. Robotic systems represent a promising alternative since they can control and standardize the 3D-US acquisition process for large scanning distances without requiring a specific line of sight.