Softness-based adaptive mesh refinement algorithm for soft tissue deformation

Soft tissue and organ modeling is the most critical function of any virtual surgical system. This study proposes a softness-based adaptive mesh refinement algorithm to simultaneously ensure realistic and real-time soft tissue simulation. The algorithm was constructed to consider that in a virtual surgery scenario, the surgical sites involve large deformation and thus require high simulation precision, whereas the nonsurgical sites involve small deformations and thus require low simulation precision. This study used the stomach lining as an example, applying mesh refinement in the deformation sites of the stomach lining to enhance the accuracy of the simulations. In addition, low mesh models were adopted for nonsurgical sites to ensure computing efficiency.