Recurring Meeting of Cleveland Clinic Core Team

Date: October 13, 2015

Time: 2:00 PM EST

Means: In person meeting

Attendees:

1. Ahmet Erdemir
2. Tammy Owings
3. Robb Colbrunn
4. Tara Bonner

Agenda:

1. Discuss immediate action items from last meeting.
2. Additional issues for ultrasound system-force transducer integration.
3. Details of in vivo testing protocol.
4. Decide immediate action items for next meeting.
5. Other.

Immediate Action Items:

• Ahmet
  • Explore how ECG data are saved when exporting ultrasound imaging data in DICOM format.

• Tammy & Callan

  • Provide DICOM files with ECG data to evaluate how ECG data are saved.
• Tammy
  • Send presentation on subject positioning to John-Eric Jelovsek.

  • Start documenting in vivo testing strategy in the Specifications/InVivoTesting wiki page.

• Tara & Robb

  • Follow up with ordering of the load cells.

  • Start documenting ultrasound system and force transducer integration in the Infrastructure/InstrumentedUltrasound wiki page.

• Tara
  • Follow up with Siemens to find out the electrical input specifications of the auxiliary ECG channel.
  • Identify and purchase a laptop that can be used for in vivo data collection.

Notes:

1. Discuss immediate action items from last meeting.
   • Ahmet is still waiting for DICOM files with ECG data to evaluate how ECG data are saved. Tammy and Callan will provide these files.
   • Ahmet had a discussion with Russ Fedewa about a 3D ultrasound probe, who confirmed that we do not have one in hand. He noted that we may be able to loan one from Siemens.
   • Robb and Ahmet talked about data labeling strategy. See relevant discussion in additional issues for ultrasound system-force transducer integration.
   • Eric sent a detailed e-mail on subject positioning and potential acquisition of arterial information with ultrasound. Tammy evaluated these and prepared a presentation on subject positioning (also see the following note).
   • Tammy provided a presentation on experimental protocol to identify desirable probes for different imaging locations. Tammy described five ultrasound probes. All are linear arrays, some curved. First three are designed to low to medium depth, the last two are designed for deep tissue imaging, i.e. for the abdomen. The group decided to test the first two probes for all locations and the third and the fifth probe for the inner thigh, where highest tissue thickness is expected. In her presentation, Tammy also provided illustrations of subject positioning. She will send the presentation to John-Eric Jelovsek to confirm.
   • Ahmet talked to Izzy Delgado-Dembie (BME administrator) about getting Tara and Robb the ability to order from the funds of project.
   • Tara tried to evaluate triggering of the ultrasound system as described by Siemens personnel. Due to discrepancies in instructions, she asked for more detailed information from them. She also asked about the the co-axial ECG trigger jack in the ultrasound system. Per Siemens, the auxiliary ECG channel can be used as an alternative to feed in ECG data, which may be a good option for the input. Tara will follow up to find out the electrical input specifications of that connector/channel.
   • Tara provided information for Izzy Delgado-Dembie (BME administrator) to order the DAQ board. Tara and Callan used a load cell to understand potential forces applied during indentation with a probe. They estimated the forces to reach up to 130-140 N. Tara provided the group a table of load cell options. The group discussed and settled on getting a quote for the load cell Nano25, from ATI Corp. Sealing may not be necessary as it is not needed in the human subjects testing. For cadaver testing, the group will likely use the Nano17 load cells from ATI Corp. Tara and Robb will follow up with ordering the load cells. Tara also mentioned the need to order a laptop that can be used for the data collection. Ahmet confirmed and asked her to purchase one.
2. Additional issues for ultrasound system-force transducer integration.
   • The group discussed automated naming of files to ease data collection with the force transducer. The group agreed that a scheme with "Subject ID_location_time stamp_(append discard if not used)" may be a good. This will help associate force data with the ultrasound data, which will have a time stamp (therefore time sequence) and subject ID.

   • Robb mentioned need to start thinking about the force control system software design. He also asked for the timeline for testing. Ahmet noted that in vivo testing with the ultrasound-force transducer system is anticipated to start March 1, 2016. In parallel with in vivo testing, the personnel from BioRobotics Core can focus on cadaver experimentation.

   • Robb and Tara will start to document their efforts in the Infrastructure/InstrumentedUltrasound wiki page, which should include details of the ultrasound system, force transducers, and their integration. Ahmet emphasized that the information there does not need to be polished, it will evolve as the team reviews it.

3. Details of in vivo testing protocol.
   • Refer to notes in the discussions for immediate action items from last meeting.

   • Tammy will use the wiki page Specifications/InVivoTesting to start documenting the design of a test for selection of the probe and the actual in vivo testing protocol.

4. Decide immediate action items for next meeting.
   • See Immediate Action Items above.
5. Other.
   • None noted.