Towards Fully Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound-guided Biopsy for Superficial Organs

Abstract

Ultrasound-guided therapeutic procedures rely heavily on operator skill, leading to variability and high training costs. The shortage of trained ultra-sonographers further exacerbates the issue, increasing workloads and associated health risks. Robotic technology has the potential to effectively tackle these issues, yet there has been limited research on fully autonomous robotic ultrasound-guided biopsy systems based on the entire workflow. To address this challenge, this paper presents an autonomous robotic operative framework for superficial organ biopsy. The system integrates real-time slice-to-volume registration and navigation, along with a needle insertion mechanism, following operational protocols to autonomously perform the entire biopsy procedure. The feasibility, robustness, and generalizability of the system are validated through experimental studies.