Virtual brain surgery simulation system based on haptic interaction

To improve the accuracy and interactivity of soft tissue deformation simulation, a new plate spring model based on physics is proposed. The model is parameterized and thus can be adapted to simulate different organs. Different soft tissues are modeled by changing the width, number of pieces, thickness, and length of a single plate spring. In this paper, the structural design, calculation of soft tissue deformation and real-time feedback operations of our system are also introduced. To evaluate the feasibility of the system and validate the model, an experimental system of haptic interaction, in which users can use virtual hands to pull virtual brain tissues, is built using PHANTOM OMNI devices. Experimental results show that the proposed system is stable, accurate and promising for modeling instantaneous soft tissue deformation.