Modeling of flexible needle for haptic insertion simulation

Needle buckling is commonly observed in the surgical procedure of flexible needle insertion. Unexpected buckling can seriously affect the insertion performances, and it should be avoided because it causes unstable and undesirable motion of the needle, thereby damages surrounding vital tissue structures. Although needle insertion simulation methods using haptic interfaces have been reported, yet no extensive study of needle buckle modeling and its haptic simulation can be found. Therefore, in this paper modeling methods of needle buckling in air, buckling in homogeneous tissue, and buckling in multi-layered tissues are proposed. An energy-based method is used to model the feedback force in the insertion procedure through a haptic interface. An experimental simulation system based on a haptic interface is developed.