Modelling of interaction between a spatula and a human brain

This paper describes a method for surgery simulation, or more specifically a learning system of how to use a brain spatula. Improper use of brain spatulas can lead to brain tissue lesions such as tearing of brain tissue and ischemia. The idea is to provide surgeons with a tool which can teach them the correlation between deformation and applied force. The system includes a Finite Element based model of the brain in a Virtual Reality setup with haptic feedback. The physical model links the shape of the deformable model with the associated force. The interaction between the spatula and the brain model is handled by a collision response method which aims at smoothing the discrete haptic feedback. The experimental results are promising even though the used force feedback device is somewhat constraining the realism.