Design and Analysis of a Cost-Effective Haptic Device for Sonography Training

The shortage of specialized sonography professionals and the need for efficient training methods have led to the development of various sonography training solutions. This paper introduces a cost-effective sonography training system, combining a parallel master haptic device, body phantoms for simulating pathologies, and specialized software. The proposed mechanism is a 5-degree-of-freedom (5-DOF) parallel robot with two identical parts fixed on a stationary frame. It features a probe for scanning body phantoms and a self-rotation mechanism. The direct and inverse kinematic problems are analyzed to determine the probe's position and orientation. The proposed system offers a more affordable alternative to existing sonography training solutions, which can be prohibitively expensive, especially in developing countries. It provides a more realistic scan representation, offering a potential solution to address the shortage of sonography specialists while delivering high-quality training.