Ultrasound Calibration for Dual-Armed Surgical Navigation System

Ultrasound (US) imaging system is widely used in robotic systems for precision positioning in clinical applications. The US calibration is critical to minimize the difference of spatial coordinates between instruments, for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in navigation systems. In this study, we propose a dual robotic arm system that combines US imaging with one arm for path planning and monitoring and accurate positioning with the other arm for instrument placement via the preplanning procedures. A phantom with N-wire and N-wedge was designed for US calibration. The US calibration showed a mean error of 0.76 mm; the mean dual-arm calibration error is 0.31 mm. The positioning error of the system was verified with a mean error of 1.48 mm. In addition, we used two abdominal phantoms with computed tomography scan validation, with an averaged position error of 1.867 ± 0.436 mm and an orientation error of 2.190 ± 0.764°. The proposed system is aimed to perform clinical operations, such as abdominal MIS, with real-time image monitoring of the organ tissues and instrument positions, which meet the requirements for medical application.