With the accelerated iteration of artificial intelligence technology, the scenarios of AI-assisted medical care are increasing. The reporter recently learned from the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the intelligent ultrasound technology and ultrasound robot developed by the medical robot team of the institute in conjunction with industry medical companies can provide patients with convenient and efficient medical services.

  According to reports, ultrasound can be used to accurately evaluate organ lesions such as carotid artery, thyroid, breast, etc., and is an important tool for early screening of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and cancer. However, ultrasound equipment is complex in operation and highly relies on the professionalism and experience of ultrasound doctors. In remote areas with underdeveloped medical standards, patients often delay treatment due to improper diagnosis.

  In response to this issue, the research team proposed the technical path of "robot + AI + palm ultrasound". "In the design of the robot system, we deeply integrate artificial intelligence image analysis, on-site operator motion analysis, and robot motion autonomous decision-making, realizing the integration and decision-making based on multimodal information such as image, position, and force awareness information." Wang Shuangyi, a researcher at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and head of the ultrasonic project, said.

  Wang Shuangyi introduced that the desktop-level lightweight robot for thyroid and carotid artery developed by the team can realize scanning path guidance and real-time quality monitoring through human-computer hybrid intelligence. Operators only need to follow the robot prompts to complete standardized scanning.

  At the same time, the team developed an artificial intelligence diagnosis engine based on a large amount of ultrasound imaging data to improve the sensitivity and specificity of differential diagnosis of lesions. It also integrates the ultrasonic probe with the processing system to the size of the mobile phone, and cooperates with the cloud intelligent analysis system to realize the service model of "equipment into the community and experts in the cloud".

  At present, the technology has been implemented in more than 10 primary medical institutions, and carotid artery ultrasound screening has been carried out one after another.

  "The team is expanding technology to screening more organs such as breast, liver, etc., and through long-term technical research, it is truly 'sinkable and affordable'." said Hou Zengguang, head of the medical robot team of the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Reporter Liu Zhen and Song Chen)

[Editor in charge: Ran Xiaoning]