Suturing for surface meshes

We present a suturing simulator for surgery operating on spring-mass surface meshes. The rope model we use for suturing is a geometry-based model which includes the capability to form a knot. We extend a previous suture model to maintain a consistent flexibility when conflicting constraints cause the suture to stretch. The suture, which is attached to a needle, cam be manipulated by the user to stitch a virtual cut on a surface. When the needle pierces the deformable model, the surface mesh is subdivided at the contact point using a novel subdivision algorithm. During suturing, the simulation of the pierced mesh differs depending on whether it is pierced by the needle, or has passed on to the suture. To aid the interactions between the deformable and the suture models, a novel quasi-spring tension method is presented. As an aid to creating tutorials for surgical students, we present a knot planner which can tie knots for demonstration