Object-oriented discrete modeling: a modular approach for human body simulation

There are two actual challenges in the simulation of the human body for medical purpose: the ability to model complex structures and their interactions, and the ability to accurately represent reality. In this article we show further developments of a model presented some years ago to address the former and we present some solutions concerning the latter. In this model soft tissues are considered as three−dimensional elastic bodies. Bones are considered as three−dimensional rigid bodies. All these objects are dynamically moving in a viscous medium and are submitted both to internal cohesive forces and to external attractive or interactional forces. Three examples show the qualitative evaluation of this model. The first example demonstrates our modular approach by building a complex object made of soft tissues, muscles, bones and passive layers. The second example show a more realistic object, where the bones of the arm are displaced by a muscle contraction and relaxation. The third example, for which this model was originally developed, shows a human trunk object, reduced o the essential structures, that could simulate the trunk movements. The remaining of the article look into a more quantitative evaluation of the model.