Development of a Remote Ultrasound Diagnostic System and Its Remote Experiment.

We have developed a master-slave type remote ultrasound diagnostic system in the "aged society". In this paper, the motion of the doctor while diagnosing is analyzed and according to the analysis, the specification of the system is decided. In the slave manipulator, it has 7 degree of freedom. 3 degree of freedom for position, 3 degree of freedom for orientation, and a redundant degree of freedom located in the tip of slave manipulator. Specifically, in the slave manipulator, high-rigidity was accomplished by adopting radius-guide ways to realize precise position and orientation of the probe and acquire the proper ultrasonography easily. And a redundant axis in the tip of the slave manipulator is implemented to trace the affected part keeping the contact force. In the master manipulator, a paralell link mechanism was implemented to lessen the volume of calculation by keeping the 3-axises force sensor horizontal. Then, we evaluated the safety of this system. In this paper, the results of the remote ultrasound diagnostic experiment between a multimedia cockpit with a medical doctor in Okayama prefecture and a consulting room with a patient in Tokyo prefecture are reported. Experimental results demonstrate that a medical doctor can perform remote ultrasound diagnosis properly.