Approaches for the Simulation of Deformable Objects in Manufacturing Systems

The validation of control software using methods of Virtual Commissioning (VC), with its origin in the field of machine tools, gains more and more importance in other application areas like process engineering or material-flow-intensive production systems. Especially because of the increasing complexity of technical systems the validation of the control software quality is a major challenge in production technology. To reduce the efforts of modeling and to increase the value of simulation results, a so-called physically model is integrated in the VC. Currently the physically based Virtual Commissioning is restricted to rigid body simulation objects. In this publication new methods for the simulation of deformable objects are shown and validated in an industrial context. Therefore the hybridization of existing simulation methods from computer science using so called physic engines is introduced as a method that simplifies the description of complex simulation objects by adapting well known simulation models. The new approach is comparable to a mixture of a multi body simulation and a real-time finite element simulation

Complexity Reduction in Image-Based Breast Cancer Care

The diversity of malignancies of the breast requires personalized diagnostic and therapeutic decision making in a complex situation. This thesis contributes in three clinical areas: (1) For clinical diagnostic image evaluation, computer-aided detection and diagnosis of mass and non-mass lesions in breast MRI is developed. 4D texture features characterize mass lesions. For non-mass lesions, a combined detection/characterisation method utilizes the bilateral symmetry of the breast s contrast agent uptake. (2) To improve clinical workflows, a breast MRI reading paradigm is proposed, exemplified by a breast MRI reading workstation prototype. Instead of mouse and keyboard, it is operated using multi-touch gestures. The concept is extended to mammography screening, introducing efficient navigation aids. (3) Contributions to finite element modeling of breast tissue deformations tackle two clinical problems: surgery planning and the prediction of the breast deformation in a MRI biopsy device