Motivation

A Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) is an ultrasound imaging technique used to analyze the structure and function of the heart. A specialized probe in manually passed down the patient's esophagus by a cardiologists to obtain clearer, more detailed images of the heart than a traditional echocardiogram. Despite the sophistication of a TEE, it has the following drawbacks:

Time consuming (2 hrs long)
Ergonomically challenging
Limited in precision
Hazardous (x-ray radiation exposure)

Objective

To overcome these drawbacks, our project goal is to remotely operate the TEE procedure after initial manual catheter insertion.

Our strategy for achieving this goal involves developing a teleoperated robotic assistant that capable of providing remote control of all probe features

Challenges

Design and develop a robotic assistant that can:

Control the probe remotely
Enable easy control of all probe features:
- Rotation of two probe handle knobs
- Axial rotation of probe
- Linear translation of probe
- Actuation of the multi-plane angle button
Ensure patient safety
Ensure ease of use for cardiologist

Existing Solutions

The latest literature review indicates engineers have developed:

Remote control capabilities of TEE probe[1]
Robotic control of key probe features
Systems that provide precise closed-loop positioning methods[2]

These solutions have the following limitations:

Remote control requires a laptop and is not user friendly[1]
Cannot control all probe features[1]
Complex, expensive, difficult to manufacture[3]
Neglects the challenges of integrating the system into hospital environments[1][2]

Proposed Solution

The schematic on the left illustrates our intended design functionality. It provides an overview of the key degrees of freedom (DOF) of the probe and details our approach to controlling each one.

Overall we intend to design a design solution that can provide:

Doctor friendly user interface/remote control
Control of all 5 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) of the probe
Low cost, and easy manufacturability
Seamless integration into the hospital

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