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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Design and Implementation of a Bespoke Robotic Manipulator for Extra-corporeal Ultrasound
Published on: January 7, 2019
Design, implementation and evaluation of an independent real-time safety layer for medical robotic systems using a
1Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23562 , Lüebeck, Germany. richter@rob.uni-luebeck.de
Purpose:
Most medical robotic systems require direct interaction or contact with the robot. Force-Torque (FT) sensors can easily be mounted to the robot to control the contact pressure. However, evaluation is often done in software, which leads to latencies.
Methods:
To overcome that, we developed an independent safety system, named FTA sensor, which is based on an FT sensor and an accelerometer. An embedded system (ES) runs a real-time monitoring system for continuously checking of the readings. In case of a collision or error, it instantaneously stops the robot via the robot's external emergency stop.
Results:
We found that the ES implementing the FTA sensor has a maximum latency of [Formula: see text] ms to trigger the robot's emergency stop. For the standard settings in the application of robotized transcranial magnetic stimulation, the robot will stop after at most 4 mm.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it works as an independent safety layer preventing patient and/or operator from serious harm.
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