  The development of robotic-assisted extracorporeal ultrasound systems has a
long history and a number of projects have been proposed since the 1990s
focusing on different technical aspects. These aim to resolve the deficiencies
of on-site manual manipulation of hand-held ultrasound probes. This paper
presents the recent ongoing developments of a series of bespoke robotic
systems, including both single-arm and dual-arm versions, for a project known
as intelligent Fetal Imaging and Diagnosis (iFIND). After a brief review of the
development history of the extracorporeal ultrasound robotic system used for
fetal and abdominal examinations, the specific aim of the iFIND robots, the
design evolution, the implementation details of each version, and the initial
clinical feedback of the iFIND robot series are presented. Based on the
preliminary testing of these newly-proposed robots on 42 volunteers, the
successful and re-liable working of the mechatronic systems were validated.
Analysis of a participant questionnaire indicates a comfortable scanning
experience for the volunteers and a good acceptance rate to being scanned by
the robots.
