Identification of mechanical properties of brain parenchyma for brain surgery haptic simulation

Dissection and removal of lesion area are fundamental operations in brain surgery. In order to correctly reproduce dissection and removal in brain surgery haptic simulation, mechanical properties of brain tissue must be investigated. In this work, porcine brains are used as specimens. Mechanical properties such as density, Poisson´s ratio, Young´s modulus, damping coefficient, and fracture stress of porcine brain parenchyma are measured and identified. Since haptic simulations require real-time computation of deformation and fracture of brain tissue, a linear finite element model and Rayleigh damping model are used. The Rayleigh damping coefficients are identified by solving optimization problems, so that the error between experimental results and simulation results is minimized.