Robust interactive collision handling between tools and thin volumetric objects.

Area of Science:

• Computational mechanics
• Medical simulation
• Geometric modeling

Background:

• Simulating soft tissue interactions with rigid tools is challenging, especially for slender shapes and large time steps.
• Deep interpenetrations and breakthroughs complicate the computation of contact spaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a robust method for simulating soft tissue and rigid tool interactions.
• To address challenges posed by large displacements and interpenetrations in slender soft tissues.

Main Methods:

• Employs a spatially reduced representation of soft tissue geometry using a 2D triangle surface with nodal radii.
• Introduces a novel manifold projection scheme involving rasterizing colliding triangles into a distance field.
• Estimates contact spaces robustly, even with large intersections, using a purely geometric approach.

Main Results:

• The proposed method achieves physically plausible results for soft tissue-rigid tool interactions.
• The geometric approach effectively handles deep interpenetrations and large displacements.
• Demonstrated wide applicability through examples, including an arthroscopy simulator.

Conclusions:

• The novel geometric approach provides a robust solution for simulating complex soft tissue-tool interactions.
• The method's efficiency and accuracy make it suitable for interactive simulations like arthroscopy.