From Self-Normal-Positioning to Omni-Directional Tracking: Real-Time Surface Modeling Enabled Probe Tilt Control for Robotic Ultrasound Imaging

2026-08-11

AI Summary

This study addresses a critical limitation of conventional robotic ultrasound systems, which restrict probe positioning to the surface normal direction and thus fail to meet clinical requirements for non-perpendicular imaging, such as in cardiac applications. To overcome this constraint, the authors propose an omnidirectional probe pose control framework that integrates multi-view RGB-D point clouds to fit a local quadratic surface in real time and employs task-space control to accurately track any prescribed imaging angle relative to the body surface. This approach represents the first method to break free from the normal-direction constraint, enabling stable ultrasound scanning at arbitrary tilt angles. Experimental validation on both phantoms and live subjects demonstrates a mean angular error of only 1.06 ± 0.66 degrees and successful acquisition of target cardiac chamber views at tilt angles up to 44.39 ± 2.59 degrees.

Abstract

Ultrasound (US) provides real-time, radiation-free imaging, but the image quality depends strongly on how the probe is oriented against the patient body. Robotic US can reduce operator workload and improve acquisition consistency; however, most existing systems focus on normal positioning, where the probe is maintained perpendicular to the local surface. This constraint is inadequate for examinations like echocardiography, where obtaining a diagnostic view requires a non-normal probe angle. Consequently, a clinically useful robotic system must sense the local surface in real-time and preserve the desired probe orientation. Here, we propose an omni-directional probe-orientation control framework that integrates RGB-D perception, local-surface modeling, and task-space orientation control. The surface model fuses multi-view point clouds and provides a quadratic estimate of the local surface. A desired imaging direction is then encoded relative to the normal, enabling the probe to track arbitrary angles. The framework was evaluated through flat-surface tracking, phantom target-angle recovery, and in-vivo tracking of an expert selected view. Results show that the mean angular tracking error was 1.06 +- 0.66 deg. The system recovered a non-normal tilt angle of up to 44.39 +- 2.59 deg relative to the surface normal, and acquired the desired heart chamber view in the phantom and in-vivo experiments.

Problem

• robotic ultrasound
• probe orientation
• non-normal angle
• surface modeling
• omni-directional tracking

Innovation

• omni-directional tracking
• real-time surface modeling
• robotic ultrasound
• probe tilt control
• RGB-D perception