Autonomous Robot Detects Embedded Shrapnel

Researchers at Duke University (Durham, NC, USA) experimented with a rudimentary tabletop robotic probe with a novel three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound Doppler array that serves as the robots "eyes.” An electromagnet was attached to the probe, which caused the test shrapnel--2mm sections of a hypodermic needle--to vibrate. An artificial intelligence program then processed the real-time 3-D information, enabling the device to detect its location via the magnet-generated motion of the shrapnel. The movements caused by the electromagnet, while not visible to the human eye, shows up on the system monitor as bright red in color. Once the coordinates were established by the computer, it guided a test probe (which could simply be replaced with tools such as a grabber) to the site of the shrapnel for extraction. The robot used for the experiments is a tabletop version capable of moving in three axes of motion; for the next series of tests, the researchers plan to use a robotic arm with six-axis capability. The results of the experiments were published early online in the July 2009 issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control.

"We showed that in principle, the system works,” said senior author Stephen Smith, Ph.D., director of the Duke University ultrasound transducer group. "It can be very difficult using conventional means to detect small pieces of shrapnel, especially in the field. The military has an extensive program of exploring the use of surgical robots in the field, and this advance could play a role.”

The successful proof-of-feasibility experiments lead the researchers to believe that in the future, such a robot could not only help treat shrapnel injuries on the battlefield, but might also be used for such medical procedures as placing and removing radioactive seeds (used in the treatment of prostate and other cancers) and removing foreign metallic objects from the eye.

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