The main objective of this project is to develop a system (named ROSE) for the telemedicine market based on recent advances of robotic assisted tele-echography.
Several researchers of the Institute of Systems and Robotics of the University of Coimbra (UC-ISR) have been working in this area for the last 7 years, where new telecontrol architectures have been developed for collaborative robots. The developed laboratory prototype at UC-ISR was successfully tested in gynecological/obstetric exams, paving the way to market uptake. A new tele-diagnosis paradigm will be established by the ROSE system, where physicians and patients can interact without requiring physical proximity.
Each ROSE system includes two robotized ergonomic stations (one at the physician side, and the other one at the patient side), a set of ultrasound probes with classical functionalities, patient data base systems located in the “cloud” and safe internet-based communication facilities. Merging all these components in coherent way, the ROSE system will allow the interaction of multiple physicians and patients, mitigating shortcomings of traveling from both patient and physician sides, and creating new services such as technical tele-mentoring, and international collaboration. From the imagiology perspective, robotic assistance allows precise control of the ultrasound probe in position and orientation, improving also physician and patient comfort, based on ergonomic designs and compliant interactions.
Presently, there are no mature market solutions to solve the problem of robotic-assisted tele-echography. All commercial systems so far have had small market impact.
The main reasons for the unsuccessful attempts are:
1) Lack of intuitiveness during tele-manipulation due to the absence of contact sensations at the physician side;
2) No full control of robot position/orientation by the physician, requiring an active assistant during medical procedures. The ROSE consortium proposes a disruptive solution strongly immersive and intuitive, based on recent technological advances on torque controlled lightweight robots and compliant telecontrol architectures with haptic feedback. Beyond the UC-ISR technical contribution, the consortium also has the leadership of Sensing Future Technologies, Lda., (SFT) a company dedicated to the development and commercialization of medical devices.
The laboratory of Automatic and Systems of Pedro Nunes Institute (LAS-IPN) will address the development of intuitive human-machine interfaces, connecting the scientific know-how of UC-ISR to real market needs. Finally, the company “Imacentro – Clínica de Imagiologia Médica”, which belongs to the Idealmed group, will give all support to test the ROSE solution in real scenarios, since it has collaborations with reputed physicians in the area of imagiology.