Mathematical modelling for keyhole surgery simulations: a biomechanical model for spleen tissue

Abstract

There is growing interest in the potential for computer simulations to provide good training materials for abdominal endoscopic or ‘keyhole’ surgery. This paper describes a preliminary study of the mechanical properties of abdominal (spleen) tissue. We show how experimental force–displacement data can be used to derive a biomechanical model for the tissue as an incompressible, homogeneous, isotropic nonlinear elastic material with an exponential stress–strain law. We also show how the model can be used to predict the response of the tissue to a surgical probe. This involves solving a complicated nonlinear constrained boundary‐value problem, and there is a good fit between the computed solution and experimental data.