28 May 2024

The IN4 Laboratory of the Ferrara Technopole is once again a leading player in the field of innovation. The Automation and Robotics research group coordinated by Prof. Marcello Bonfè, in collaboration with researchers from the Vascular Diseases Center team, supervised by Prof. Paolo Zamboni, has created a patent regarding an autonomous robotic system for ultrasonographic examination of blood vessels.

It is a robot that performs vascular diagnostic scans with ultrasound “copying” medical protocols for the acquisition and measurement of hemodynamic and morphological parameters, for example, at the level of the abdominal aorta. The patent fits perfectly into the field of artificial intelligence applied to medicine and represents a novelty of its kind given the many applications into which it can be extended.

The research team carries out activities in the area of motion planning and control of industrial and surgical robots, control systems in general, and fault detection and diagnosis, including with specific expertise in the design and development of simulation and training devices for medical professionals.

As is well known, affirms Saverio Farsoni, principal investigator of this project, “even in the medical field, artificial intelligence has made considerable progress, so much so that a good part of the investments in this field are oriented to the development of health applications giving rise to more and more applications in medicine thanks to the versatility of the applied technologies. In particular, this patent was tested for ultrasound examination of the abdominal aorta, the main blood vessel of the human body that runs throughout the abdominal cavity in the direction of the lower limbs, from the diaphragm to the fourth lumbar vertebra.”

The aorta starts from the left ventricle of the heart and carries oxygenated blood from the lungs to all districts of our body, dividing into segments. Its function is to supply oxygen-rich blood to the tissues, abdominal and pelvic organs, and lower limbs. Indeed, from the abdominal aorta arise the arteries deputed to the vasculature of the abdominal organs, pelvic organs and lower limbs.

The abdominal aorta, after the age of 65, can experience dilatation and transform into an aneurysm, which has a high risk of rupturing causing bleeding that is often fatal (70% to 90% of cases. Aneurysm is an often asymptomatic condition, and there are currently no screening campaigns that can detect it in a timely manner. 

The modality of observing and examining blood vessels offered by this technology could make it possible to address problems related to aneurysms, such as the one mentioned regarding the abdominal aorta. Current screening technology involves the use of an ultrasound machine operated by a medical specialist and, in some cases, further investigation with alternative diagnostic techniques such as CT and MRI. Thanks to this application, more screening can be performed, limiting medical intervention to only those cases where it is necessary, thus freeing up human resources to be allocated to other alternative medical activities and saving economic resources by not performing diagnostic investigations that are no longer needed.

The research team that led to the realization of this patent includes Saverio Farsoni, Alessandro Bertagnon, Marcello Bonfè, and Paolo Zamboni.