Modeling fibrous soft tissue dissection with elastic-plastic deformation for simulation of brain tumor removal

Abstract

Background and objective: Realistic modeling the dissection of brain tissue is of key importance for simulation of brain tumor removal in virtual neurosurgery systems. However, existing methods are unable to characterize inelastic behaviors of brain tissue, such as plastic deformation and dissection evolution, making it ineffective in simulating brain tumor removal procedures.

Methods: In this paper, a model of fibrous soft tissue dissection for the simulation of brain tumor removal is proposed. A dissection variable of representative volume element is used to characterize the dissection state of the fibrous soft tissue. The evolution of dissection with elastic-plastic deformation under the effects of external loads is presented.

Results: Simulation results show that the proposed model provides realistic, stable and intuitive results in the simulation of fracture in fibrous soft tissues. As the external load increases, the fibrous soft tissue begins to crack, with the cracks growing and multiplying until they eventually merge to form a fracture. The proposed model is incorporated into the simulation of brain tumor removal.

Conclusions: The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of modeling fibrous soft tissue dissection with elastic-plastic deformation. A relative high degree of realistic visual feedback is achieved.

Keywords: Dissection model; Fibrous soft tissue; Surgical simulation; Tumor removal.