Patient-Specific Simulation: Non-Destructive Identification Method for Soft Tissue Under Large Strain: Application to Pelvic System

Abstract

This work presents a non-destructive method to assess mechanical properties of the patient-specific soft tissues of a multi-organ system under large strain. The presented application is focusing on the female pelvic cavity. Based on an experimental data bank of mechanical properties, dynamic MRI’s displacement field analysis, MRI’s geometrical reconstruction, and FE model of the pelvic cavity, a protocol has been developed to identify the material properties of a specific patient’s organs. The purpose of this paper is to tackle that issue by using an inverse finite element analysis. Mechanical properties of the soft tissues are optimized to obtain the MRI’s observed displacement of the cervix on the FE model.