R. Kojcev, B. Fuerst, O. Zettinig, J. Fotouhi, S.C. Lee, B. Frisch, R. Taylor, E. Sinibaldi, N. Navab Dual-Robot Ultrasound-Guided Needle Placement: Closing the Planning-Imaging-Action Loop International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery / International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions (IPCAI), Heidelberg, June 2016. The original publication is available online at link.springer.com (bib)
	Abstract Purpose: Precise needle placement is an important task during several medical procedures. To inject the needle into soft tissue, ultrasound imaging is used to guide the needle towards the target region. This task remains challenging due to the user's dependence of ultrasound imaging, limited field of view, moving target and moving needle. In this paper we present a dual-robot framework for robotic needle insertions under robotic ultrasound guidance. This system allows robotic needle insertion to target a preoperatively defined region of interest, while enabling real-time visualization using robotic imaging, and adaptive trajectory planning to provide safe and quick interactions. Method: The proposed solution integrates impedance-controlled ultrasound image acquisition, registration of preoperative and intraoperative images, visual servoing, target localization, and needle tracking. Results: In a simulated needle biopsy procedure, the system is evaluated under realistic conditions in a mock operating room. The robot-to-robot calibration and tracking algorithms allow the accurate (targeting error around 1mm) and clinically relevant biopsy of a region of interest. Conclusion: Experimental results show the feasibility, and demonstrate the ac- curacy and robustness of the process. This shows that we can close the loop of planning and execution of the needle placement.
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