A physics-based algorithm for real-time simulation of electrosurgery procedures in minimally invasive surgery.
BACKGROUND
High-frequency electricity is used in the majority of surgical interventions. However, modern computer-based training and simulation systems rely on physically unrealistic models that fail to capture the interplay of the electrical, mechanical and thermal properties of biological tissue.


METHODS
We present a real-time and physically realistic simulation of electrosurgery by modelling the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties as three iteratively solved finite element models. To provide subfinite-element graphical rendering of vaporized tissue, a dual-mesh dynamic triangulation algorithm based on isotherms is proposed. The block compressed row storage (BCRS) structure is shown to be critical in allowing computationally efficient changes in the tissue topology due to vaporization.


RESULTS
We have demonstrated our physics-based electrosurgery cutting algorithm through various examples. Our matrix manipulation algorithms designed for topology changes have shown low computational cost.


CONCLUSIONS
Our simulator offers substantially greater physical fidelity compared to previous simulators that use simple geometry-based heat characterization.
['Lu|Zhonghua|Z|', 'Arikatla|Venkata S|VS|', 'Han|Zhongqing|Z|', 'Allen|Brian F|BF|', 'De|Suvranu|S|']
D000465:Algorithms D003198:Computer Simulation D004598:Electrosurgery D006801:Humans D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures D010825:Physics
electrosurgery minimally invasive surgery cutting simulation physics-based simulation surgical simulation virtual reality