title: Toward high-speed 3D nonlinear soft tissue deformation simulations using Abaqus software.
abstract: We aim to achieve a fast and accurate three-dimensional (3D) simulation of a porcine liver deformation under a surgical tool pressure using the commercial finite element software Abaqus. The liver geometry is obtained using magnetic resonance imaging, and a nonlinear constitutive law is employed to capture large deformations of the tissue. Effects of implicit versus explicit analysis schemes, element type, and mesh density on computation time are studied. We find that Abaqus explicit and implicit solvers are capable of simulating nonlinear soft tissue deformations accurately using first-order tetrahedral elements in a relatively short time by optimizing the element size. This study provides new insights and guidance on accurate and relatively fast nonlinear soft tissue simulations. Such simulations can provide force feedback during robotic surgery and allow visualization of tissue deformations for surgery planning and training of surgical residents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 205 North Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Ashraf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Idkaidek
authors.affiliation: Departments of Mechanical Science and Engineering and Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 West Green Street, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA. ijasiuk@illinois.edu.
authors.forename: Iwona
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9663-4734
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jasiuk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D065287:Robotic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software; D013552:Swine
keywords: Computational surgery; Mathematical models; Nonlinear constitutive model; Numerical simulations; Robotics