Intensity-based ultrasound visual servoing: modeling and validation with 2D and 3D probes

International audienceIn this work we present an ultrasound (US) visual servoing to control a robotic system equipped with a US probe. To avoid the difficult and time consuming image segmentation process, we develop a new approach taking as visual input directly the intensity of the image pixels. The analytic form of the interaction matrix that relates the variation of the intensity features to the motion of the probe is established and used to control the six degrees of freedom (dof) of the robotic system. Our approach is applied with a 2D and a 3D US probe and the results obtained with both sensors are compared in simulation. The 2D probe shows good performances for tracking tasks and the 3D one, that ensures a larger domain of convergence, is more particularly used for positioning tasks. The intensity-based approach is validated through experimental results performed with a realistic abdominal phantom and with animal soft tissues