# Towards MRI-Based Autonomous Robotic US Acquisitions: A First Feasibility Study

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.08371 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.08371/

## Key facts

- Cited by 29 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 28 Jul 2016.

## Built on by (most cited first, 29 of 29)

- [Autonomous Navigation of an Ultrasound Probe Towards Standard Scan Planes with Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00718/) (2021)
- [Analysis of Randomization Effects on Sim2Real Transfer in Reinforcement Learning for Robotic Manipulation Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.06282/) (2022)
- [Intelligent Robotic Sonographer: Mutual Information-based Disentangled Reward Learning from Few Demonstrations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03705/) (2023)
- [VesNet-RL: Simulation-based Reinforcement Learning for Real-World US Probe Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.06676/) (2022)
- [Towards Autonomous Atlas-based Ultrasound Acquisitions in Presence of Articulated Motion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.05399/) (2022)
- [Interactive Imitation Learning in State-Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.00524/) (2020)
- [6D Robotic Assembly Based on RGB-only Object Pose Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12986/) (2022)
- [Skeleton Graph-based Ultrasound-CT Non-rigid Registration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.08228/) (2023)
- [DefCor-Net: Physics-Aware Ultrasound Deformation Correction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.03865/) (2023)
- [Continual Domain Randomization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.12193/) (2024)
- [DiAReL: Reinforcement Learning with Disturbance Awareness for Robust Sim2Real Policy Transfer in Robot Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.09010/) (2023)
- [Image-Guided Navigation of a Robotic Ultrasound Probe for Autonomous Spinal Sonography Using a Shadow-aware Dual-Agent Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.02167/) (2021)
- [DopUS-Net: Quality-Aware Robotic Ultrasound Imaging based on Doppler Signal](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.08938/) (2023)
- [Class-Aware Cartilage Segmentation for Autonomous US-CT Registration in Robotic Intercostal Ultrasound Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.04100/) (2024)
- [Learning Robotic Ultrasound Scanning Skills via Human Demonstrations and Guided Explorations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.01625/) (2021)
- [Thoracic Cartilage Ultrasound-CT Registration using Dense Skeleton Graph](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03800/) (2023)
- [Autonomous Path Planning for Intercostal Robotic Ultrasound Imaging Using Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.09927/) (2024)
- [Comparative Evaluation of 3D Reconstruction Methods for Object Pose Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.08234/) (2024)
- [Learning Ultrasound Scanning Skills from Human Demonstrations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.09739/) (2021)
- [Robot Self-Calibration Using Actuated 3D Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.03430/) (2022)
- [On the Localization of Ultrasound Image Slices within Point Distribution Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.00372/) (2023)
- [Coaching a Robotic Sonographer: Learning Robotic Ultrasound with Sparse Expert's Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.02337/) (2024)
- [Safe Continual Domain Adaptation after Sim2Real Transfer of Reinforcement Learning Policies in Robotics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.10949/) (2025)
- [Follow the Curve: Robotic-Ultrasound Navigation with Learning Based Localization of Spinous Processes for Scoliosis Assessment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.05196/) (2021)
- [State Representations as Incentives for Reinforcement Learning Agents: A Sim2Real Analysis on Robotic Grasping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.11984/) (2023)
- [Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound System for Liver Follow-up Diagnosis: Pilot Phantom Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.05787/) (2024)
- [Robot-Enabled Machine Learning-Based Diagnosis of Gastric Cancer Polyps Using Partial Surface Tactile Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.01554/) (2024)
- [Vibration-Based Energy Metric for Restoring Needle Alignment in Autonomous Robotic Ultrasound](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.06921/) (2025)
- [SAMe: A Semantic Anatomy Mapping Engine for Robotic Ultrasound](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.25646/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Robotic ultrasound has the potential to assist and guide physicians during interventions. In this work, we present a set of methods and a workflow to enable autonomous MRI-guided ultrasound acquisitions. Our approach uses a structured-light 3D scanner for patient-to-robot and image-to-patient calibration, which in turn is used to plan 3D ultrasound trajectories. These MRI-based trajectories are followed autonomously by the robot and are further refined online using automatic MRI/US registration. Despite the low spatial resolution of structured light scanners, the initial planned acquisition path can be followed with an accuracy of 2.46 +/- 0.96 mm. This leads to a good initialization of the MRI/US registration: the 3D-scan-based alignment for planning and acquisition shows an accuracy (distance between planned ultrasound and MRI) of 4.47 mm, and 0.97 mm after an online-update of the calibration based on a closed loop registration.