Remote ultrasound robot that give operator sense of touch pioneered by scientists

A remote ultrasound robot that enables the operator to sense touch has been developed by Victoria scientists.

The pioneering technology could dramatically improving access to diagnostics tools for those living in regional and remote parts of the country.

The machine allows medical professionals to remotely conduct abdominal ultrasound procedures on a patient up to 1,000 kilometres away and diagnose a range of conditions including abdominal pain, abnormal liver function and enlarged organs.

While robots are not new to medical practice, what sets this device apart is an advanced haptics - or force feedback system, which gives the operator the sense of touch.

The head of surgery at Barwon Health, Professor David Watters, said it was an important development in the use of robots in healthcare.

"It actually adds to what's currently available with robots, where you can operate remote from the patient, but you don't get any sensory feedback of how hard you are pressing or what the tissues feel like," he said.

"The opportunity to get this sensory feedback means that we will actually be able to do more operations and do them probably better."

Robot could address 'looming health worker shortage'

Professor Watters said the device could help address a looming worldwide shortage of health workers.

"By 2030, we estimate we're going to need another 40 million health workers and we may be 15 to 18 million health workers short," he said.

"The fact that we can get skilled procedures remotely to a patient will be of tremendous advantage to rural and remote communities and also low-income countries and low-middle-income countries that are struggling to train enough health workers to service their populations."

Even in the short term, smaller countries in the Asia-Pacific region which could benefit from the technology.

"They have a lot of islands that are independent nations but only have a small population and therefore they are never going to be able to train all the medical specialists that they need," Prof Watters said.

Built-in protection for patients

The director of Deakin University's Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation, Professor Saeid Nahavandi, said the world-first trial of the technology had been successfully tested using 4G wireless data links between Melbourne and several regional and rural cities within Australia.

Further tests will be conducted over larger distances before the device is approved for hospitals.

Several different technologies are built in to ensure the patient is never harmed by the robot.

"Our technology measures the amount of discomfort by the patient and at any one time, if the patient is uncomfortable, both information is relayed back to the sonographer or radiographer remotely and they can ease off," Professor Nahavandi said.

"Built-in sensing technology never ever allows the robot to exert more than a certain amount of force onto the patient, so there are several levels of safety built into that system."