Future of X-Ray Imaging: Robotic Scanners Follow Your Movements

Instead of lying on a cold, uncomfortable table, doctors may one day be able peer into a patient's body using robotic X-ray, MRI, and CT scanners capable of following as they move around.

A University of Florida engineer has designed a robot to shadow and shoot X-ray video of sufferers of orthopedic injuries as they walk, climb stairs, stand up from a seated position or pursue other normal activities-and maybe even athletic ones like swinging a bat.

UF mechanical and aerospace engineer Scott Banks' goal is to augment static images of patients' bones, muscles and joints with an interior view of these and other parts in action during normal physical activity. By merging such full-motion X-rays with computerized representations, orthopedic surgeons will make better diagnoses, suggest more appropriate treatments and get a clearer idea of post-operative successes and failures, he said.

"Our goal is come up with a way to observe and measure how joints are moving when people are actually using them," Banks said. "We think this will be tremendously powerful, not only for research but also in the clinical setting as well."

Orthopedic surgeons have long diagnosed patients by touch or with static X-rays, MRI and CT scans. They also may use X-ray video, but current technologies provide only a tight view of a very limited range of motion in a controlled laboratory setting.

After operations, surgeons have few tools beyond the patient's experience to tell them whether a procedure worked as intended and whether it will forestall additional joint damage. Banks hopes his robot will lead to a radical improvement.

The robot holds a standard video camera with a three-foot mechanical arm to follow a person's knee, shoulder or other joint with its hand as he or she moves.

In its completed form, the hand will hold lightweight equipment capable of shooting X-rays, while another robot will hold the sensor that captures images of the body as moving videos. Although the robots will be attached to a fixed base, there is room for a person to move around normally within their reach. And in the future, said Banks, "we could put these robots on wheels and they could follow you around."

To use it, a patient wears an LED-lit patch on the body part that is intended for targeting. Several cameras placed around the room and a networked computer command the robots to hone in on the patch and track the joint, although this technology still needs to be fine tuned.

--LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Kristen Barlett/University of Florida