  Since most developed countries are facing an increase in the number of
patients per healthcare worker due to a declining birth rate and an aging
population, relatively simple and safe diagnosis tasks may need to be performed
using robotics and automation technologies, without specialists and hospitals.
This study presents an automated robotic platform for remote auscultation,
which is a highly cost-effective screening tool for detecting abnormal clinical
signs. The developed robotic platform is composed of a 6-degree-of-freedom
cooperative robotic arm, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) camera, and a
spring-based mechanism holding an electric stethoscope. The platform enables
autonomous stethoscope positioning based on external body information acquired
using the LiDAR camera-based multi-way registration; the platform also ensures
safe and flexible contact, maintaining the contact force within a certain range
through the passive mechanism. Our preliminary results confirm that the robotic
platform enables estimation of the landing positions required for cardiac
examinations based on the depth and landmark information of the body surface.
It also handles the stethoscope while maintaining the contact force without
relying on the push-in displacement by the robotic arm.
