Deformation method for surgery simulation using voxel space automata

Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide three dimensional view of human bodies. Using both the imaging and computer graphic techniques, there are many studies to apply the 3D images to surgery simulations in virtual environment. Automatic generation of physical model for an individual patient and real-time performance of deformation are the important key techniques to build a surgery simulation system. In this paper, we propose a new deformation method based on voxel space automaton to solve the problems. Values representing a density of objects and force are exchanged between adjacent voxels according to the rules of automaton. The rules determine the properties of objects such as stiffness and inertia. The experimental results show the capability to deform objects by operators (pushing, pulling, and cutting)