Techniques for the Generation of 3D Finite Element Meshes of Human Organs

Lobos, Claudio; Hitschfeld, Nancy

doi:10.4018/978-1-60566-733-1.ch009

Cited by 9 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 39 publications

(66 reference statements)

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“…The computer model of a structure is not examined as one whole structure but by dividing it into discrete interconnected elements, which gives it an appearance of a mesh called a mesh-model or finite element model (Hutton, 2003). These finite geometrical elements are connected through nodes having boundary lines to form 2D areal and where there are boundary surfaces they form 3D volumetric entities (Lobos et al, 2010). Each element of the mesh structure contains material information and how the applied loads are going to transform the entire structure by displacement of the elements at the nodes.…”

Section: Finite Element Modeling and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

In-silico patient-specific and patient-appropriate engineering method to judiciously select an ameliorative implant design in a single-patient using finite element-n-of-1 (fe-n-of-1) empirical test analysis to reconstruct mid-sagittal osteochondrotomy of the sternum following cardiac surgery

Gandhi

2022

IJCT

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Introduction: No two patients have similar normal anatomy and physiology because of genetics, physical development, and age that the same type of surgery and reconstruction implant will perform equally well. Such a notion demands the need for individualization of treatment and a method to select an ameliorative implant prospectively. One such empirically testing method is the finite element-n-of-1 (fe-n-of-1), where a treatment plan is executed specifically and systematically for a single patient as part of pre-operative planning. Objective: It is to evaluate and discuss the method of finite element analysis to carry out the fe-n-of-1 empirical test in a fact-driven manner connecting various scientific domains. It presents a preliminary protocol how to select an ameliorative implant to mitigate sternal instability due to suboptimal standard stainless-steel cerclage wiring to reconstruct the sternum following open-heart surgery. Methodology: The instability following the reconstruction of the sternum is a mechanical problem therefore it is appropriate to apply harmless structural engineering methods to choose a suitable implant design to fix it. This exploratory descriptive research describes finite element n-of-1 empirical testing using in-silico engineering principles applied to patient-specific and patient-appropriate mechanical loading conditions. Conclusion: Single-patient fe-n-of-1 empirical testing is a benign engineering method based on finite element modeling and finite element analysis. It is a safe mathematical evaluation free from subjective bias to select in advance the most ameliorative implant design to opt out of the suboptimal stainless steel cerclage wire as ‘standard of care’ and improve patient-based outcome and surgeon satisfaction.

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Section: Finite Element Modeling and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

In-silico patient-specific and patient-appropriate engineering method to judiciously select an ameliorative implant design in a single-patient using finite element-n-of-1 (fe-n-of-1) empirical test analysis to reconstruct mid-sagittal osteochondrotomy of the sternum following cardiac surgery

Gandhi

2022

IJCT

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Influence of the Calcaneus Shape on the Risk of Posterior Heel Ulcer Using 3D Patient-Specific Biomechanical Modeling

Luboz

Perrier

Bucki³

et al. 2014

Ann Biomed Eng

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Most posterior heel ulcers are the consequence of inactivity and prolonged time lying down on the back. They appear when pressures applied on the heel create high internal strains and the soft tissues are compressed by the calcaneus. It is therefore important to monitor those strains to prevent heel pressure ulcers. Using a biomechanical lower leg model, we propose to estimate the influence of the patient-specific calcaneus shape on the strains within the foot and to determine if the risk of pressure ulceration is related to the variability of this shape. The biomechanical model is discretized using a 3D Finite Element mesh representing the soft tissues, separated into four domains implementing Neo Hookean materials with different elasticities: skin, fat, Achilles' tendon, and muscles. Bones are modelled as rigid bodies attached to the tissues. Simulations show that the shape of the calcaneus has an influence on the formation of pressure ulcers with a mean variation of the maximum strain over 6.0 percentage points over 18 distinct morphologies. Furthermore, the models confirm the influence of the cushion on which the leg is resting: a softer cushion leading to lower strains, it has less chances of creating a pressure ulcer. The methodology used for patient-specific strain estimation could be used for the prevention of heel ulcer when coupled with a pressure sensor.

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Atlas-Based Automatic Generation of Subject-Specific Finite Element Tongue Meshes

et al. 2015

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Generation of subject-specific 3D finite element (FE) models requires the processing of numerous medical images in order to precisely extract geometrical information about subject-specific anatomy. This processing remains extremely challenging. To overcome this difficulty, we present an automatic atlas-based method that generates subject-specific FE meshes via a 3D registration guided by Magnetic Resonance images. The method extracts a 3D transformation by registering the atlas' volume image to the subject's one, and establishes a one-to-one correspondence between the two volumes. The 3D transformation field deforms the atlas' mesh to generate the subject-specific FE mesh. To preserve the quality of the subject-specific mesh, a diffeomorphic non-rigid registration based on B-spline free-form deformations is used, which guarantees a non-folding and one-to-one transformation. Two evaluations of the method are provided. First, a publicly available CT-database is used to assess the capability to accurately capture the complexity of each subject-specific Lung's geometry. Second, FE tongue meshes are generated for two healthy volunteers and two patients suffering from tongue cancer using MR images. It is shown that the method generates an appropriate representation of the subject-specific geometry while preserving the quality of the FE meshes for subsequent FE analysis. To demonstrate the importance of our method in a clinical context, a subject-specific mesh is used to simulate tongue's biomechanical response to the activation of an important tongue muscle, before and after cancer surgery.

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Techniques for the Generation of 3D Finite Element Meshes of Human Organs

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

In-silico patient-specific and patient-appropriate engineering method to judiciously select an ameliorative implant design in a single-patient using finite element-n-of-1 (fe-n-of-1) empirical test analysis to reconstruct mid-sagittal osteochondrotomy of the sternum following cardiac surgery

In-silico patient-specific and patient-appropriate engineering method to judiciously select an ameliorative implant design in a single-patient using finite element-n-of-1 (fe-n-of-1) empirical test analysis to reconstruct mid-sagittal osteochondrotomy of the sternum following cardiac surgery

Influence of the Calcaneus Shape on the Risk of Posterior Heel Ulcer Using 3D Patient-Specific Biomechanical Modeling

Atlas-Based Automatic Generation of Subject-Specific Finite Element Tongue Meshes

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