Modifying Soft Tissue Models: Progressive Cutting with Minimal New Element Creation

Surgical simulation is a promising technology for training medical students and planning procedures. One major requirement for these simulation systems is a method to generate realistic cuts through soft tissue models. This paper describes methods for cutting through tetrahedral models of soft tissue. The cutting surface follows the free form path of the user’s motion, and generates a minimal set of new elements to replace intersected tetrahedra. Intersected elements are progressively cut to minimize the lag between the user’s motion and model modification. A linear finite element model is used to model deformation of the soft tissue. These cutting techniques coupled with a physically based deformation model increases the accuracy and applicability of a surgical simulation system.