Russia patented the underlying robot ultrasound technology
A method of automated ultrasound examination has been patented in Russia. The robotic complex can work in conjunction with any ultrasound machine that has the ability to save data in DICOM-format.The method of automated ultrasound examination is patented in Russia. The patent was granted to the project manager of the robotic ultrasound Roboscan Artem Badriev and the medical expert of the project, the head of the laboratory of the Institute of Digital Medicine of the First Sechenov Moscow State Medical University, urologist Igor Shaderkin, said "MV" in the company.
The patented method is the basis of the ultrasound robot created by MVP startup. RoboScan - an autonomous complex for ultrasound medical examination, which consists of collaborative robotic manipulator and software that allows the study in an automated mode. The complex can work in conjunction with any ultrasound machine that has the ability to save data in DICOM-format. After the examination, the data are transmitted to the server, where the doctor can work with them, regardless of the location and time of treatment, using standard software.
"In essence, we propose to use the same approach that is widespread in radiology today," Shaderkin told CF. - That is, the processes of data acquisition and analysis are separated: they can be performed autonomously, at different times, in different places, by different people. Take an X-ray or MRI: a lab technician lays a patient down, conducts the scanning procedure, and then a doctor "decodes" this data and prepares a conclusion.
There is no such thing in ultrasonography yet.
"As a doctor, I can say that there is almost no such thing as different ultrasound specialists giving exactly the same description of this or that picture," Shaderkin noted. - You either have to trust the doctor completely, or redo the ultrasound on your own, as I usually do. Our approach allows us to solve this problem.
All the routine work of collecting data using the robot is formalized, standardized and can be performed under the control of mid-level medical personnel, the invention description says. The operator supervises the operation of the robot, and ensures that a separate series of operations related to selecting the ultrasound sensor according to the type of examination to be performed, changing the position of the patient, cleaning and disinfecting the sensors, and the workstation are performed.
Since routine data collection operations are performed by the operator, the physician can focus on examining the ultrasound scan data, describing it and forming a conclusion, the patent states. In addition, the doctor has access to an artificial intelligence (AI) system that operates during the ultrasound scan and captures abnormalities. The AI system uses neural networks that learn from a large number of ultrasound images classified according to the presence or absence of various problems. In addition, the AI allows the formation of a second opinion when forming an opinion.