Ultrasound sensor modeling in Gazebo simulator for diagnostics of abdomen pathologies

Ultrasound imaging is a widely used technique in medicine. It is a non-invasive medical procedure that uses sound waves to produce pictures of the inside of the human body. Ultrasound helps to diagnose conditions of soft tissues and detecting a wide range of medical diseases and pathologies. This paper presents a 3D model and a Gazebo plugin of a medical ultrasound sensor that performs ultrasound imaging of an abdomen surface. The ultrasound device is represented as an end-effector for a KUKA IIWA LBR manipulator model but can also be used for other manipulator models. We introduce an implementation of a complex abdomen 3D model that consists of fat, muscle, and intestine tissue layers. Each tissue has its unique parameters used by the Gazebo medical ultrasound plugin. The developed ultrasound sensor was successfully tested in the Gazebo simulator and was able to provide visualizing a structure of the abdomen internals for further diagnostics.