Engineers at Duke University have used a 3-D ultrasound scanner to boost the accuracy of surgical robots.

The researchers demonstrated the scanner's ability to pinpoint in real time the exact location of a target for a surgical procedure. This specific information helped guide a robotic surgical instrument right to its simulated surgical mark, according to researchers.

"It's the first time, to our knowledge, that anyone has used the information in a 3-D ultrasound scan to actually guide a robot," said Stephen Smith, professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, in a news release.

The scanner could be coupled to the surgeon-operated robots that are being increasingly used for performing minimally invasive "laparoscopic" surgeries on the heart or other organs, Smith said.

In these types of operations, surgeons work through tiny "keyhole" incisions during the operation. Researchers hope that the new scanner could give surgeons a more realistic view of the organ they are working on.

The device could work in various medical settings, according to the researchers. They said the scanner might enable surgeries to be performed without surgeons, a capability that could prove valuable in remote locations.

"All the technology is available. We just need to make the connections between the ultrasound scanner and the robots now in use by surgeons. There are no technological barriers to doing that right away," said Smith.

Among other applications, surgeons could use the new technology to spot potential tumours in real time during biopsy procedures. This could potentially make a diagnosis of cancer harder to miss, the engineers said.

Right now, physicians locate lesions suspected to be cancer using still images, such as CT scans of a patient's organs captured prior to biopsy.

The team's findings appear in the November 2006 issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

The 3-D ultrasound probe has yet to be tested in human patients, but researchers believe the technology is ready for clinical trials.

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.