Repeatable ultrasound

An ultrasound system comprising:

• an ultrasound scanner configured to generate ultrasound data based on received reflections of ultrasound signals transmitted by the ultrasound scanner at a patient anatomy;
• a robotic manipulator configured to couple to the ultrasound scanner, the robotic manipulator configured to control positioning, movement, and operation of the ultrasound scanner;
• a processor system configured to generate scan instructions for the robotic manipulator and receive the ultrasound data from the ultrasound scanner;
• an adaptive-registration system configured to determine a position and orientation of the patient anatomy and adjust the robotic manipulator to orient the ultrasound scanner based on the determined position and orientation of the patient anatomy;
• a database configured to store data corresponding to the ultrasound data and anatomy-registration data associated with the determined position and orientation of the patient anatomy;
• and
• an anatomy fixture including:
• an array of pins, each pin in the array of pins having a central axis and being displaceable along the central axis;
• and
• a plurality of sensors configured to detect a depth and location of each pin of the array of pins as the patient anatomy displaces a subset of the pins, wherein the depth and location of each pin is recorded as the anatomy-registration data to represent a negative of a contour of an exterior surface of a portion of the patient anatomy.

A method for repeatable ultrasound, the method comprising:

• providing a vessel having an interior volume;
• detecting exterior boundaries of a patient anatomy located within the interior volume of the vessel;
• detecting a spatial relation of the patient anatomy relative to the vessel;
• generating anatomy-registration data corresponding to the patient anatomy based on the spatial relation of the patient anatomy relative to the vessel and the exterior boundaries of the patient anatomy;
• determining movement instructions for a robotic manipulator based on the anatomy-registration data;
• and
• providing the movement instructions to the robotic manipulator to move and operate an ultrasound scanner for scanning the patient anatomy.