We propose a control framework to optimize the quality of robotic ultrasound imaging while tracking an anatomical target. We use a multitask approach to control the in-plane motion of a convex probe mounted on the end-effector of a robotic arm, based not only on the position of the target in the image, but also on features extracted from an ultrasound confidence map. The resulting control law therefore guarantees a good image quality, while keeping the target aligned with the central ultrasound scan-line. Potential applications of the proposed approach are, for example, teleoperated ultrasound examination, motion compensation for ultrasound-guided interventions , or automatic ultrasound acquisition. We demonstrate our approach with experiments on an ultrasound examination training phantom in motion. © 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.     «

We propose a control framework to optimize the quality of robotic ultrasound imaging while tracking an anatomical target. We use a multitask approach to control the in-plane motion of a convex probe mounted on the end-effector of a robotic arm, based not only on the position of the target in the image, but also on features extracted from an ultrasound confidence map. The resulting control law therefore guarantees a good image quality, while keeping the target aligned with the central ultrasound...     »