[1O5-OS-18b] OS-18

[1O5-OS-18b-01] The Impact of Probe Manipulation and Skill Level Analysis in Cardiac Ultrasound Examination

Daiki Sekine¹, 〇Shoko Kibi¹, Dan Mikami¹, Takahiro Kihara², Yasuyoshi Takei², Junji Yamato¹ (1. Kogakuin University, 2. Tokyo Medical University)

Keywords:AI, Medical

Cardiac function is evaluated in echocardiography by acquiring cross-sectional heart images using a probe placed against the skin. Sonographers must develop advanced probe manipulation and image interpretation skills—often requiring around 10,000 cases for proficiency—which creates a significant training burden. To reduce this load, our study examines the impact of probe handling on diagnostic outcomes. During ejection fraction (EF) measurement via Simpson’s method, we recorded probe orientation with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor and extracted eight statistical features. These features were used to build a random forest classifier that distinguishes novice from veteran operators, while SHAP analysis provided insights into feature importance. Our findings revealed that increased pitch rotation indicated novice handling, and lower roll variability correlated with higher image quality. Moreover, synchronizing roll and pitch to limit excessive pitch rotation emerged as a key technique for obtaining stable images. Future work incorporates positional data using a visible light camera and AR markers to further refine the analysis.