Comprehensive Review of Reinforcement Learning for Medical Ultrasound Imaging

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Elmekki, Hanae, Islam, Saidul, Alagha, Ahmed, Sami, Hani, Spilkin, Amanda, Zakeri, Ehsan, Zanuttini, Antonela Mariel, Bentahar, Jamal, Kadem, Lyes, Xie, Wen-Fang, Pibarot, Philippe, Mizouni, Rabeb, Otrok, Hadi, Singh, Shakti, Mourad, Azzam
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Elmekki, Hanae
Islam, Saidul
Alagha, Ahmed
Sami, Hani
Spilkin, Amanda
Zakeri, Ehsan
Zanuttini, Antonela Mariel
Bentahar, Jamal
Kadem, Lyes
Xie, Wen-Fang
Pibarot, Philippe
Mizouni, Rabeb
Otrok, Hadi
Singh, Shakti
Mourad, Azzam
author_facet Elmekki, Hanae
Islam, Saidul
Alagha, Ahmed
Sami, Hani
Spilkin, Amanda
Zakeri, Ehsan
Zanuttini, Antonela Mariel
Bentahar, Jamal
Kadem, Lyes
Xie, Wen-Fang
Pibarot, Philippe
Mizouni, Rabeb
Otrok, Hadi
Singh, Shakti
Mourad, Azzam
contents Medical Ultrasound (US) imaging has seen increasing demands over the past years, becoming one of the most preferred imaging modalities in clinical practice due to its affordability, portability, and real-time capabilities. However, it faces several challenges that limit its applicability, such as operator dependency, variability in interpretation, and limited resolution, which are amplified by the low availability of trained experts. This calls for the need of autonomous systems that are capable of reducing the dependency on humans for increased efficiency and throughput. Reinforcement Learning (RL) comes as a rapidly advancing field under Artificial Intelligence (AI) that allows the development of autonomous and intelligent agents that are capable of executing complex tasks through rewarded interactions with their environments. Existing surveys on advancements in the US scanning domain predominantly focus on partially autonomous solutions leveraging AI for scanning guidance, organ identification, plane recognition, and diagnosis. However, none of these surveys explore the intersection between the stages of the US process and the recent advancements in RL solutions. To bridge this gap, this review proposes a comprehensive taxonomy that integrates the stages of the US process with the RL development pipeline. This taxonomy not only highlights recent RL advancements in the US domain but also identifies unresolved challenges crucial for achieving fully autonomous US systems. This work aims to offer a thorough review of current research efforts, highlighting the potential of RL in building autonomous US solutions while identifying limitations and opportunities for further advancements in this field.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_16543
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Comprehensive Review of Reinforcement Learning for Medical Ultrasound Imaging
Elmekki, Hanae
Islam, Saidul
Alagha, Ahmed
Sami, Hani
Spilkin, Amanda
Zakeri, Ehsan
Zanuttini, Antonela Mariel
Bentahar, Jamal
Kadem, Lyes
Xie, Wen-Fang
Pibarot, Philippe
Mizouni, Rabeb
Otrok, Hadi
Singh, Shakti
Mourad, Azzam
Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Medical Ultrasound (US) imaging has seen increasing demands over the past years, becoming one of the most preferred imaging modalities in clinical practice due to its affordability, portability, and real-time capabilities. However, it faces several challenges that limit its applicability, such as operator dependency, variability in interpretation, and limited resolution, which are amplified by the low availability of trained experts. This calls for the need of autonomous systems that are capable of reducing the dependency on humans for increased efficiency and throughput. Reinforcement Learning (RL) comes as a rapidly advancing field under Artificial Intelligence (AI) that allows the development of autonomous and intelligent agents that are capable of executing complex tasks through rewarded interactions with their environments. Existing surveys on advancements in the US scanning domain predominantly focus on partially autonomous solutions leveraging AI for scanning guidance, organ identification, plane recognition, and diagnosis. However, none of these surveys explore the intersection between the stages of the US process and the recent advancements in RL solutions. To bridge this gap, this review proposes a comprehensive taxonomy that integrates the stages of the US process with the RL development pipeline. This taxonomy not only highlights recent RL advancements in the US domain but also identifies unresolved challenges crucial for achieving fully autonomous US systems. This work aims to offer a thorough review of current research efforts, highlighting the potential of RL in building autonomous US solutions while identifying limitations and opportunities for further advancements in this field.
title Comprehensive Review of Reinforcement Learning for Medical Ultrasound Imaging
topic Image and Video Processing
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.16543