Validating linear elastic and linear viscoelastic models of lamb liver tissue using cone-beam CT

The purpose of this paper is to validate simple linear elastic model and linear viscoelastic models for lamb liver tissue deformation using high resolution cone-beam CT images. The resolution of the scanned images is 5 to 25 times higher than typical CT scans. The tissue deformation details in the contact region between the tissue and the indentor can be detected and rendered for smaller force loads. For these loads, it is difficult to accurately predict the volume and surface changes using typical low resolution CT scans. Surgical simulations rely on the accurate representation of the mechanical response of the soft tissues which are subject to surgical manipulations. If the simulation results using a model are quite different from reality, it can be concluded that such model is not applicable to the modelling of the targeted tissue. From simulation results we compare the deformed tissue with that obtained from experiments to verify the applicability of the model to soft tissue deformation. For our validation, fresh ex vivo lamb liver is chosen to validate the linear elastic model and the linear viscoelastic model.