Real-time simulation of surgery by reduced-order modeling and X-FEM techniques

This paper describes a novel approach for the simulation of surgery by a combined technique of model order reduction and extended finite element method (X-FEM) methods. Whereas model order reduction techniques employ globally supported (Ritz) shape functions, a combination with X-FEM methods on a locally superimposed patch is developed for cutting simulation without remeshing. This enables to obtain models with very few degrees of freedom that run under real-time constrains even for highly non-linear tissue constitutive equations. To show the performance of the technique, we studied an application to refractive surgery in the cornea.