Modelling liver tissue properties using a non-linear visco-elastic model for surgery simulation

In this work, we introduce an extension of the linear elastic tensor–mass method allowing fast computation of non-linear and visco-elastic mechanical forces and deformations for the simulation of biological soft tissue. We aim at developing a simulation tool for the planning of cryogenic surgical treatment of liver cancer. Percutaneous surgery simulation requires accurate modelling of the mechanical behaviour of soft tissue, and previous experimental characterizations have shown that linear elasticity is only a coarse approximation of the real properties of biological tissues. We first show that our model can simulate different types of non-linear and visco-elastic mechanical behaviours at speeds which are compatible with real-time applications. Then an experimental setup is presented which was used to characterize the mechanical properties of deer liver tissue under perforation by a biopsy needle. Experimental results demonstrate that a linear model is not suitable for simulating this application, while the proposed model succeeds in accurately modelling the axial load measured on the needle.