Development of a Seated Echocardiography Robot - Lung volume and body posture conditions that enable clear mitral valve echocardiographic images -

In this study., as a first step to establish a method to control the body posture by a robot to avoid the influence of the lungs., we quantitatively elucidated the relationship between the lung volume required to produce clear mitral valve echocardiographic images and body posture. Due to the air in the lungs., it has been difficult to obtain clear ultrasound images when using the echocardiography robot. To solve this problem, we focused on the fact that during manual examinations, physicians and technologists respond to the effects of the lungs by exhaling and changing body posture. The experimental findings showed that the lung volume monotonically increased as the roll angle was increased from 0° to 10°, 20°, and 30°, and that clear mitral valve ultrasound images could be obtained even when some air remained in the lungs. The relationship between the lung volume threshold and respiratory state was also examined. When the roll angle was 20° or greater, the lung volume threshold exceeded the resting expiratory level in all subjects, suggesting that clear mitral valve ultrasound images can be obtained by respiratory control within the range of resting respiration without forcing out breaths.