Since most developed countries are facing an increase in the number of patients per healthcare worker due to a declining birth rate and an aging population, relatively simple and safe diagnosis tasks may need to be performed using robotics and automation technologies, without specialists and hospitals. This study presents an automated robotic platform for remote auscultation, which is a highly cost-effective screening tool for detecting abnormal clinical signs. The developed robotic platform is composed of a 6-degree-of-freedom cooperative robotic arm, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) camera, and a spring-based mechanism holding an electric stethoscope. The platform enables autonomous stethoscope positioning based on external body information acquired using the LiDAR camera-based multi-way registration; the platform also ensures safe and flexible contact, maintaining the contact force within a certain range through the passive mechanism. Our preliminary results confirm that the robotic platform enables estimation of the landing positions required for cardiac examinations based on the depth and landmark information of the body surface. It also handles the stethoscope while maintaining the contact force without relying on the push-in displacement by the robotic arm.
翻译:由于大多数发达国家由于出生率下降和人口老化,每个保健工作者的病人人数正面临增加,因此可能需要在没有专家和医院的情况下,使用机器人和自动化技术来进行相对简单和安全的诊断任务。本研究提供了一个用于远程休养的自动机器人平台,这是一个用于检测异常临床症状的成本效益极高的筛选工具。发达的机器人平台由6度自由合作机器人臂、光探测和测距(LiDAR)照相机以及一个安装电听诊器的春季机制组成。该平台能够根据使用LiDAR照相机多路登记获得的外部身体信息进行自动的听诊器定位;该平台还确保安全和灵活的接触,通过被动机制在一定范围内保持接触力。我们的初步结果证实,机器人平台能够根据身体表面的深度和标志性信息对心脏检查所需的着陆位置进行估计。该平台还处理听诊器,同时保持接触力,而无需依靠机器人臂的推动。