Ryosuke Tsumura

Ryosuke Tsumura, Yoshihiko Koseki, Naotaka Nitta et al.

Since most developed countries are facing an increase in the number of patients per healthcare worker due to a declining birth rate and an aging population, relatively simple and safe diagnosis tasks may need to be performed using robotics and automation technologies, without specialists and hospitals. This study presents an automated robotic platform for remote auscultation, which is a highly cost-effective screening tool for detecting abnormal clinical signs. The developed robotic platform is composed of a 6-degree-of-freedom cooperative robotic arm, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) camera, and a spring-based mechanism holding an electric stethoscope. The platform enables autonomous stethoscope positioning based on external body information acquired using the LiDAR camera-based multi-way registration; the platform also ensures safe and flexible contact, maintaining the contact force within a certain range through the passive mechanism. Our preliminary results confirm that the robotic platform enables estimation of the landing positions required for cardiac examinations based on the depth and landmark information of the body surface. It also handles the stethoscope while maintaining the contact force without relying on the push-in displacement by the robotic arm.

Ryosuke Tsumura, John W. Hardin, Keshav Bimbraw et al.

Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a pandemic of epic proportions and a global response to prepare health systems worldwide is of utmost importance. In addition to its cost-effectiveness in a resources-limited setting, lung ultrasound (LUS) has emerged as a rapid noninvasive imaging tool for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infected patients. Concerns surrounding LUS include the disparity of infected patients and healthcare providers, relatively small number of physicians and sonographers capable of performing LUS, and most importantly, the requirement for substantial physical contact between the patient and operator, increasing the risk of transmission. Mitigation of the spread of the virus is of paramount importance. A 2-dimensional (2D) tele-operative robotic platform capable of performing LUS in for COVID-19 infected patients may be of significant benefit. The authors address the aforementioned issues surrounding the use of LUS in the application of COVID- 19 infected patients. In addition, first time application, feasibility and safety were validated in three healthy subjects, along with 2D image optimization and comparison for overall accuracy. Preliminary results demonstrate that the proposed platform allows for successful acquisition and application of LUS in humans.