From Self-Normal-Positioning to Omni-Directional Tracking: Real-Time Surface Modeling Enabled Probe Tilt Control for Robotic Ultrasound Imaging

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11409v1
• Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2026 20:16:39 GMT
• Title: From Self-Normal-Positioning to Omni-Directional Tracking: Real-Time Surface Modeling Enabled Probe Tilt Control for Robotic Ultrasound Imaging
• Abstract summary: Ultrasound (US) provides real-time, radiation-free imaging, but the image quality depends strongly on how the probe is oriented against the patient body.<n>Most existing systems focus on normal positioning, where the probe is maintained perpendicular to the local surface.<n>We propose an omni-directional probe-orientation control framework that integrates RGB-D perception, local-surface modeling, and task-space orientation control.
• Score: 0.8952229340927186
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
• Abstract: Ultrasound (US) provides real-time, radiation-free imaging, but the image quality depends strongly on how the probe is oriented against the patient body. Robotic US can reduce operator workload and improve acquisition consistency; however, most existing systems focus on normal positioning, where the probe is maintained perpendicular to the local surface. This constraint is inadequate for examinations like echocardiography, where obtaining a diagnostic view requires a non-normal probe angle. Consequently, a clinically useful robotic system must sense the local surface in real-time and preserve the desired probe orientation. Here, we propose an omni-directional probe-orientation control framework that integrates RGB-D perception, local-surface modeling, and task-space orientation control. The surface model fuses multi-view point clouds and provides a quadratic estimate of the local surface. A desired imaging direction is then encoded relative to the normal, enabling the probe to track arbitrary angles. The framework was evaluated through flat-surface tracking, phantom target-angle recovery, and in-vivo tracking of an expert selected view. Results show that the mean angular tracking error was 1.06 +- 0.66 deg. The system recovered a non-normal tilt angle of up to 44.39 +- 2.59 deg relative to the surface normal, and acquired the desired heart chamber view in the phantom and in-vivo experiments.

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