We have developed a robotic system to assist doctors when they are moving ultrasonic probes on the patient's skin while exerting a given effort. The probes are used to monitor arteries for cardiovascular disease prevention, namely to reconstruct the 3D profile of arteries. A preliminary feasibility study making use of an industrial robot has been made to validate the force control scheme. It has proven the interest of the robotized approach for such a medical application. In order to comply with safety constraints, a dedicated robotic system HIPPOCRATE has been designed. The paper describes the arm and the controller architectures, with emphasis on design strategies selected to meet safety requirements.
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Dégoulange et al. (2002) studied this question.
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