Towards a generic framework for evaluation and comparison of soft tissue modeling.

Area of Science:

• Computational mechanics
• Medical simulation
• Biomedical engineering

Background:

• Accurate biomechanical models are crucial for clinical trust in virtual reality (VR) medical simulations.
• Current validation processes for soft tissue models are time-consuming, costly, and lack systematic approaches.
• Bridging the gap between model accuracy and computational efficiency is essential for practical medical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel, freely available, open-source framework for evaluating and comparing biomechanical models.
• To facilitate a more systematic and automated approach to model validation in medical VR.
• To enhance the credibility and usability of soft tissue simulations in clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• Development of an open-source software framework.
• Implementation of systematic procedures for biomechanical model evaluation.
• Facilitation of automated comparison between different soft tissue models.
• Focus on achieving a balance between simulation accuracy and computational performance.

Main Results:

• A functional open-source framework is now available to the scientific community.
• The framework enables more efficient and standardized comparison of biomechanical models.
• Potential for accelerating the validation process of soft tissue models for VR medical applications.

Conclusions:

• The developed framework addresses the need for systematic and automated evaluation of biomechanical models.
• This tool can significantly aid researchers in selecting and validating models for medical VR.
• Improved model validation will foster greater clinical adoption of simulation technologies.