Modelos realistas de computação gráfica para a simulação e treinamento de procedimento cirurgico.

Abstract

There is a considerable gap between the promises that the new computing technologies hold, and the expectations that they cause in the medical area, particularly, in the simulation and training of cirurgical procedures even less invasives in which medical professionals may interact with simulated organs. This paper describes realistic deformable models of the behaviour of the upper airways during a cirurgical procedure called laryngoscopy. In this procedure, the anaesthetist uses a rigid blade (laryngoscope) to compress the tongue of the patient, and then inserts a tube into the larynx to allow controlled ventilation of the lungs. This procedure can be difficult and even life threatening, and thus needs regular training. Currently, plastic models are used for this purpose, and these have many disadvantages. Computer simulation is an attractive alternative.In particular, we constructed a deformable model that can realistically simulate the behaviour of the tongue as it is compressed by the blade. We start from medical images, extract the details that characterise the subject, and then incorporate these in a finite element model to investigate how the tongue tissue behaves in response to the insertion of the blade, when it is subjected to a variety of loading conditions. The results show that, within a specific set of tongue material parameters, the simulated outcome can be successfully related to the experimental laryngoscopic studies. Further research is underway to apply these results in a interactive and distributed virtual reality environment. One main problem to be solved is computing the deformations in real time.