Ultrasound-guided prostate percutaneous intervention robot system and calibration by informative particle swarm optimization

Applying a robot system in ultrasound-guided percutaneous intervention is an effective approach for prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. The limited space for robot manipulation restricts structure volume and motion. In this paper, an 8-degree-of-freedom robot system is proposed for ultrasound probe manipulation, needle positioning, and needle insertion. A novel parallel structure is employed in the robot system for space saving, structural rigidity, and collision avoidance. The particle swarm optimization method based on informative value is proposed for kinematic parameter identification to calibrate the parallel structure accurately. The method identifies parameters in the modified kinematic model stepwise according to parameter discernibility. Verification experiments prove that the robot system can realize motions needed in targeting. By applying the calibration method, a reasonable, reliable forward kinematic model is built, and the average errors can be limited to 0.963 and 1.846 mm for insertion point and target point, respectively. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]