An Intestinal Surgery Simulator: Real-Time Collision Processing and Visualization

International audienceThis research work is aimed towards the development of a VR-based trainer for colon cancer removal. It enables the surgeons to interactively view and manipulate the concerned virtual organs as during a real surgery. First, we present a method for animating the small intestine and the mesentery (the tissue that connects it to the main vessels) in real-time, thus enabling user-interaction through virtual surgical tools during the simulation. We present a stochastic approach for fast collision detection in highly deformable, self-colliding objects. A simple and efficient response to collisions is also introduced in order to reduce the overall animation complexity. Secondly, we describe a new method based on generalized cylinders for fast rendering of the intestine. An efficient curvature detection method, along with an adaptive sampling algorithm is presented. This approach, while providing improved tessellation without the classical self-intersection problem, also allows for high-performance rendering, thanks to the new 3D skinning feature available in recent GPUs. The rendering algorithm is also designed to ensure a guaranteed frame rate. Finally, we present the quantitative results of the simulations and describe the qualitative feedback obtained from the surgeons

Modeling And Simulation Of Soft Bodies

As graphics and simulations become more realistic, techniques for approximating soft body objects, that is, non-solid objects such as liquids, gases, and cloth, are becoming increasingly common. The proposed generalized soft body method encompasses some specific cases of other existing models enabling simulation of a variety of soft body materials by parameter adjustment. This research presents a general method of soft body model and simulation in which parameters for body control, surface deformation, volume control, and gravitation, can be adjusted to simulate different types of soft bodies. In this method, the soft body mesh structure maintains configuration among surface points while fluid modeling deforms the details of the surface. To maintain volume, an internal pressure is approximated by simulated molecules within the soft body. Free fall motion of soft body is generated by gravitational field. Additionally, a constraint is specified based on the property of the soft body being modeled. There are several standard methods to control soft body volume. This work illustrates the simplicity of simulation by selecting a mass-spring system for the deformation of the connected points of a three-dimensional mesh, while an internal pressure force acts upon the surface triangles. To incorporate fluidity, smooth particles hydrodynamics (SPH) is applied where surface points are considered as free moving particles interacting with neighboring surface points within a SPH radius. Because SPH is computationally expensive, it requires an efficient method to determine neighboring surface points. Collision detection with soft bodies and other rigid body objects also requires such fast neighbor detection. To determine the neighboring surface point, Axis Aligned Bounding Box (AABB), Octree, and a partitioning and hashing schemes iv have been investigated and the result shows that the partitioning and hashing scheme provides the best frame rate. Thus a fast partitioning and hashing scheme is used in this research to reduce both computational time and the memory requirements. The proposed soft body model aims to be applied in several types of soft body application depending on the specific types of soft body deformation. The work presented in this dissertation details experiments with a variety of visually appealing fluid-like surfaces and organic materials animated at interactive speeds. The algorithm is also used to implement animated space-blob creatures in the Galactic Arms Race video game and a human lung simulation, demonstrating the effectiveness of the algorithm in both an actual video game engine and a medical application. The simulation results show that the general model of the soft body can be applied to several applications by adjusting the soft body parameters according to the appearance results

Software for evaluating probability-based integrity of reinforced concrete structures

In recent years, much research work has been carried out in order to obtain a more controlled durability and long-term performance of concrete structures in chloride containing environment. In particular, the development of new procedures for probability-based durability design has proved to give a more realistic basis for the analysis. Although there is still a lack of relevant data, this approach has been successfully applied to several new concrete structures, where requirements to a more controlled durability and service life have been specified. A probability-based durability analysis has also become an important and integral part of condition assessment of existing concrete structures in chloride containing environment. In order to facilitate the probability-based durability analysis, a software named DURACON has been developed, where the probabilistic approach is based on a Monte Carlo simulation. In the present paper, the software for the probability-based durability analysis is briefly described and used in order to demonstrate the importance of the various durability parameters affecting the durability of concrete structures in chloride containing environment

State of the Art in Skinning Techniques for Articulated Deformable Characters

Skinning is an indispensable component of the content creation pipeline for character animation in the context of feature films, video games, and in the special effects industry. Skinning techniques define the deformation of the character skin for every animation frame according to the current state of skeletal joints. In this state of the art report, we focus on the existing research in the areas of skeleton-based deformation, volume preserving techniques and physically based skinning methods. We also summarize the recent research in deformable and soft bodies simulations for articulated characters, and discuss various geometric and examples-based approaches

Development of a Multi-Body Nonlinear Model for a Seat-Occupant System

A car seat is an important component of today\u27s cars, which directly affects ride comfort experienced by occupants. Currently, the process of ride comfort evaluation is subjective. Alternatively, the ride comfort can be evaluated by a series of objective metrics in the dynamic response of the occupant. From previous studies it is well known that the dynamic behavior of a seat-occupant system is greatly affected by soft nonlinear viscoelastic materials used in the seat cushion. Therefore, in this research, especial attention was given to efficiently modeling the behavior of seat cushion. In the first part of this research, a phenomenological nonlinear viscoelastic foam model was proposed and its ability to capture uniaxial behavior of foam was investigated. The model is based on the assumption that the total stress can be decomposed into the sum of a nonlinear elastic component, modeled by a higher order polynomial of strain, and a nonlinear hereditary type viscoelastic component. System identification procedures were developed to estimate the model parameters using uniaxial cyclic compression data from experiments conducted at different rates on two types of low density polyurethane foams and three types of high density CONFOR foams. The performance of the proposed model was compared to that of other traditional continuum models. For each foam type, it was observed that lower order models are sufficient to describe the uniaxial behavior of the foam compressed at different rates. Although, the estimated model parameters were functions of the input strain rate. Alternatively, higher order comprehensive models, with strain independent parameters, were estimated as well. The estimated comprehensive model predicts foam responses under different compression rates. Also, a methodology was proposed to predict the stress-response of a layered foam system using the estimated models of each foam in the layers. Next, the estimated foam model was incorporated into a single-degree of freedom foam-mass model which is also the simplest model of seat-occupant systems. The steady-state response of the system when it is subjected to harmonic base excitation was studied using the incremental harmonic balance method. The incremental harmonic balance method was used to reduce the time required to generate the steady-state response of the system. The incrementa

Modeling, Analysis, and Optimization Issues for Large Space Structures

Topics concerning the modeling, analysis, and optimization of large space structures are discussed including structure-control interaction, structural and structural dynamics modeling, thermal analysis, testing, and design

The application of three-dimensional mass-spring structures in the real-time simulation of sheet materials for computer generated imagery

Despite the resources devoted to computer graphics technology over the last 40 years, there is still a need to increase the realism with which flexible materials are simulated. However, to date reported methods are restricted in their application by their use of two-dimensional structures and implicit integration methods that lend themselves to modelling cloth-like sheets but not stiffer, thicker materials in which bending moments play a significant role. This thesis presents a real-time, computationally efficient environment for simulations of sheet materials. The approach described differs from other techniques principally through its novel use of multilayer sheet structures. In addition to more accurately modelling bending moment effects, it also allows the effects of increased temperature within the environment to be simulated. Limitations of this approach include the increased difficulties of calibrating a realistic and stable simulation compared to implicit based methods. A series of experiments are conducted to establish the effectiveness of the technique, evaluating the suitability of different integration methods, sheet structures, and simulation parameters, before conducting a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) based evaluation to establish the effectiveness with which the technique can produce credible simulations. These results are also compared against a system that utilises an established method for sheet simulation and a hybrid solution that combines the use of 3D (i.e. multilayer) lattice structures with the recognised sheet simulation approach. The results suggest that the use of a three-dimensional structure does provide a level of enhanced realism when simulating stiff laminar materials although the best overall results were achieved through the use of the hybrid model