{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,28]],"date-time":"2026-03-28T00:45:45Z","timestamp":1774658745695,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,5]],"date-time":"2025-02-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1738713600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Robot. AI"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study aims to develop an autonomous robotic ultrasound scanning system (auto-RUSS) pipeline, comparing its reproducibility and observer consistency in image analysis with physicians of varying levels of expertise.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>An auto-RUSS was engineered using a 7-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, with real-time regulation based on force control and ultrasound visual servoing. Two phantoms were employed for the human-machine comparative experiment, involving three groups: auto-RUSS, non-expert (4 junior physicians), and expert (4 senior physicians). This setup enabled comprehensive assessment of reproducibility in contact force, image acquisition, image measurement and AI-assisted classification. Radiological feature variability was measured using the coefficient of variation (COV), while performance and reproducibility assessments utilized mean and standard deviation (SD).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The auto-RUSS had the potential to reduce operator-dependent variability in ultrasound examinations, offering enhanced repeatability and consistency across multiple dimensions including probe contact force, images acquisition, image measurement, and diagnostic model performance.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this paper, an autonomous robotic ultrasound scanning system (auto-RUSS) pipeline was proposed. Through comprehensive human-machine comparison experiments, the auto-RUSS was shown to effectively improve the reproducibility of ultrasound images and minimize human-induced variability.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2025.1527686","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,5]],"date-time":"2025-02-05T05:18:23Z","timestamp":1738732703000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Autonomous robotic ultrasound scanning system: a key to enhancing image analysis reproducibility and observer consistency in ultrasound imaging"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Xin-Xin","family":"Lin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ming-De","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Si-Min","family":"Ruan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Wei-Ping","family":"Ke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Hao-Ruo","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Shao-Hong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Mei-Qing","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Wen-Juan","family":"Tong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Hang-Tong","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Dan-Ni","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Rui-Fang","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ya-Dan","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Kuang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ming-De","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Li-Da","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Qing-Hua","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1111\/aogs.13251","article-title":"Reproducibility and acceptability of ultrasound measurements of head-perineum distance","volume":"97","author":"Benediktsdottir","year":"2018","journal-title":"Acta obstetricia Gynecol. 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