Vibration-Based Energy Metric for Restoring Needle Alignment in Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Zhongyu, Li, Chenyang, Li, Xuesong, Huang, Dianye, Jiang, Zhongliang, Speidel, Stefanie, Chu, Xiangyu, Au, K. W. Samuel
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Zhongyu
Li, Chenyang
Li, Xuesong
Huang, Dianye
Jiang, Zhongliang
Speidel, Stefanie
Chu, Xiangyu
Au, K. W. Samuel
author_facet Chen, Zhongyu
Li, Chenyang
Li, Xuesong
Huang, Dianye
Jiang, Zhongliang
Speidel, Stefanie
Chu, Xiangyu
Au, K. W. Samuel
contents Precise needle alignment is essential for percutaneous needle insertion in robotic ultrasound-guided procedures. However, inherent challenges such as speckle noise, needle-like artifacts, and low image resolution make robust needle detection difficult, particularly when visibility is reduced or lost. In this paper, we propose a method to restore needle alignment when the ultrasound imaging plane and the needle insertion plane are misaligned. Unlike many existing approaches that rely heavily on needle visibility in ultrasound images, our method uses a more robust feature by periodically vibrating the needle using a mechanical system. Specifically, we propose a vibration-based energy metric that remains effective even when the needle is fully out of plane. Using this metric, we develop a control strategy to reposition the ultrasound probe in response to misalignments between the imaging plane and the needle insertion plane in both translation and rotation. Experiments conducted on ex-vivo porcine tissue samples using a dual-arm robotic ultrasound-guided needle insertion system demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The experimental results show the translational error of 0.41$\pm$0.27 mm and the rotational error of 0.51$\pm$0.19 degrees.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_06921
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Vibration-Based Energy Metric for Restoring Needle Alignment in Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound
Chen, Zhongyu
Li, Chenyang
Li, Xuesong
Huang, Dianye
Jiang, Zhongliang
Speidel, Stefanie
Chu, Xiangyu
Au, K. W. Samuel
Robotics
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Precise needle alignment is essential for percutaneous needle insertion in robotic ultrasound-guided procedures. However, inherent challenges such as speckle noise, needle-like artifacts, and low image resolution make robust needle detection difficult, particularly when visibility is reduced or lost. In this paper, we propose a method to restore needle alignment when the ultrasound imaging plane and the needle insertion plane are misaligned. Unlike many existing approaches that rely heavily on needle visibility in ultrasound images, our method uses a more robust feature by periodically vibrating the needle using a mechanical system. Specifically, we propose a vibration-based energy metric that remains effective even when the needle is fully out of plane. Using this metric, we develop a control strategy to reposition the ultrasound probe in response to misalignments between the imaging plane and the needle insertion plane in both translation and rotation. Experiments conducted on ex-vivo porcine tissue samples using a dual-arm robotic ultrasound-guided needle insertion system demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The experimental results show the translational error of 0.41$\pm$0.27 mm and the rotational error of 0.51$\pm$0.19 degrees.
title Vibration-Based Energy Metric for Restoring Needle Alignment in Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound
topic Robotics
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.06921