Development of a tele-echography system by using an echographic diagnosis robot.

We have developed a tele-diagnosis system of echography (tele-echography system) using an Echographic Diagnosis Robot. The examiner moves the robot by using a control device at a distance from the patient and obtaining the echogram and the situation around the patient. The examiner and the patient locations are connected by a wireless local area network. Remote control is realized by the Object Request Broker (ORB) technique. We experimentally verified possibility of our system for clinical use. The robot was safe and stable even when there was slight movement of the patient and an adult patient never felt any discomfort due to the robot weight. Remote diagnosis of echograms was proved to be possible with sufficient image quality after a skilled examiner got used to controlling the robot. Since the required bandwidth of this system was at most 1Mbps, we confirmed the ability of this system for mobile robotic telemedicine.