IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics

This Focused Section contains 14 papers (11 regular and 3 short papers) that describe recent research in robotic and mechatronic systems for MRI applications in four categories of actuators, systems, sensing technology, and human-machine interface. View full abstract»

The strong magnetic fields and limited space make it challenging to design the actuation for mechatronic systems intended to work in MRI environments. Hydraulic and pneumatic actuators can be made MRI-compatible and are promising solutions to drive robotic devices inside MRI environments. In this paper, two comparable haptic interface devices, one with hydrodynamic and another with pneumatic actua... View full abstract»

This paper proposes a new methodology of biomechanical modeling for visualizing tissue deformation, combining an electrostatic film motor and tagged cine-MR imaging. The electrostatic film motor has a simple structure, is easily controlled by open loop, and its MR-compatibility has recently been verified. Tagged cine-MRI is an established process for measuring deformation of active objects. The ne... View full abstract»

This paper evaluates the use of electrorheological fluids (ERFs) within a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment. ERF is a semiactive variable impedance material, which could be used as an alternative type of resistive force/torque generation or in combination with other actuators as a damper/clutch to modulate the output force/torque of the actuator. In this paper, an ERF damper/brake is in... View full abstract»

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide high-quality 3-D visualization of prostate and surrounding tissue, thus granting potential to be a superior medical imaging modality for guiding and monitoring prostatic interventions. However, the benefits cannot be readily harnessed for interventional procedures due to difficulties that surround the use of high-field (1.5T or greater) MRI. The inabili... View full abstract»

Image-guided percutaneous interventions are common procedures used for diagnosis or therapeutic purposes. The clinical demand for such interventions is growing since they are minimally invasive. To increase the quality of the operations and provide optimal accuracy and safety to patients, puncture robots may be very helpful. This paper presents a new robotic architecture designed to perform abdomi... View full abstract»

The "magic angle" effect consists of the increase in signal intensity observed at a tendon or cartilage in a magnetic resonance image, when the tissue is oriented at an angle of approximately 55deg with respect to the main magnetic field B₀. The exploitation of this phenomenon is often used to assist diagnosis of tendinous and other diseases, although practical difficulties ... View full abstract»

Lorentz-force-induced vibrations in MRI systems cause significant acoustic noise levels during scanning, the main acoustic noise source being the vibrating gradient coil. In this paper, a novel active vibration control technique is presented to reduce vibrations of the gradient coil, and hence, achieve a reduction of acoustic noise during scanning. The active vibration control technique uses seism... View full abstract»

This paper analyzes sensing methods compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI (fMRI) reported in the literature, and presents the three generations of MR-compatible force/torque sensors we have developed for robotic systems to interact with human motion. Conventional sensors such as camera-based measurement systems, strain gauges or commercial force/torque sensors, and op... View full abstract»

In this paper, we describe a biomimetic-fabric-based sensing glove that can be used to monitor hand posture and gesture. Our device is made of a distributed sensor network of piezoresistive conductive elastomers integrated into an elastic fabric. This solution does not affect natural movement and hand gestures, and can be worn for a long time with no discomfort. The glove could be fruitfully emplo... View full abstract»

While considerable technology has been integrated into the operating room, until recently, the actual performance of surgery has seen relatively few changes, relying mainly on hand-eye coordination. This paper outlines the development and composition as well as the requirements and reasoning that lead to the human-machine interface on neuroArm, a telerobotic surgical system. A critical component o... View full abstract»

MRI scanner and magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible robotic devices are mechatronic systems. Without an interconnecting component, these two devices cannot be operated synergetically for medical interventions. In this paper, the design and properties of a graphical user interface (GUI) that accomplishes the task is presented. The GUI interconnects the two devices to obtain a larger mechatronic syst... View full abstract»

Actuators based on dielectric elastomers, a specific class of electroactive polymers, appear to be suitable candidates for new MRI-compatible technologies, due to their intrinsic material properties and working principle. This paper presents the first investigation into the MRI compatibility of a recently developed linear contractile actuator made of a silicone elastomer. The apparent absence of a... View full abstract»

This paper reports on the development of a new closed-bore magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible robotic system for image-guided prostatic interventions: ablation, brachytherapy, and biopsy. The first stage of development addresses only laser-based ablation. The robot actuators are ultrasonic motors. The first physical robot prototype was manufactured and tested in the MRI with an ablation t... View full abstract»

Real-time processing of MRIs is reported as a method of 3D tracking of mechanical devices within the field of view using passive microcoil fiducials. The specific implementation described makes use of two scan planes for full 3D tracking of a 5-DOF manipulator arm used for prostate biopsy under image guidance. Real-time tracking was observed with a maximum update rate of 0.42 frames per second for... View full abstract»

This paper presents the study of a pipeline robot based on a bristle mechanism. The bristle mechanism shows great flexibility and makes the pipeline robot to be able to work in ill-constraint pipes, which were previously considered as unpiggable or uninspectable. The working principle of pipeline robot is illustrated and the bristle mechanism is given in-depth analysis. Bristle traction force mode... View full abstract»

This paper introduces the implementation of a recently introduced method suitable for visual servoing. The method is based on the generalization of secant methods for nonlinear optimization. The difference with existing approaches related to visual servoing is that we do not impose a linear model to interpolate the goal function. Instead, we prefer to identify the linear model by building the seca... View full abstract»