Evaluation of Control Strategies for a Tele-manipulated Robotic System for Remote Trauma Assessment

Abstract

Unintentional injury or trauma is among the leading causes of death in the United States with up to 29% of the prehospital trauma deaths attributed to uncontrolled hemorrhages. This paper reports and analyzes control strategies for a tele-manipulated robotic system to enable remote Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) en route to the hospital. We compare a hybrid tele-manipulation technique which combines conventional position and rate control techniques to a position-based tele-manipulated system. We also evaluate the performance of a force activated virtual fixture (VF) as an addition to the tele-manipulation system to expand the potential of robotic trauma care towards rapidly initializing lifesaving diagnostics and treatment procedures. From human subject trials, it was found that the final tele-manipulated system allows the operators to easily position the probe in 25% less time than the position-based system, as well as perform a FAST exam while smoothly sweeping the probe at 70% smoother sweep velocities with a consistent contact force having a 150% lower standard deviation than a system without the VF.