Development of a hyperelastic finite element tool for modelling surgery of complex organs (membrane and underlying tissues)

Abstract : Nowadays, modelling surgery of soft tissues appears to be a promising and helpful way of predicting and teaching surgical operations. This work aimed at predicting the mechanical response of complex organs (composed of a thin membrane and underlying tissues) undergoing multiaxial loadings using a finite element code (VSurgeon3). This software was developed in our laboratory and is based on tetrahedron P1+/P1 elements and on a mixed pressure-velocity formulation. The constitutive equations used to represent the behaviour of the membrane and adjacent tissues represent hyperelastic models. Three different models (neo-Hookean, Mooney-Rivlin, and a third one (Fung) with a higher degree of nonlinearity) and a kill element method have been implemented in VSurgeon3.