Chapter 6
Biomechanical Modelling of the Brain for
Neurosurgical Simulation
and Neuroimage Registration
Karol Miller, Adam Wittek, Angus C. R. Tavner, and Grand Roman Joldes
6.1 Introduction
During neurosurgery, the brain can deform significantly. Despite the enormous
complexity of the brain (see Chap. 2), many aspects of its response can be
reasonably described in purely mechanical terms, such as displacements, strains and
stresses. Therefore the mechanical behaviour of the brain can be analysed using the
established methods of continuum mechanics. In this chapter we discuss approaches
to biomechanical modelling of the brain from the perspective of two distinct
applications: neurosurgical simulation and neuroimage registration in image-guided
surgery. These two challenging applications are described below. 1
6.1.1 Neurosurgical Simulation for Operation Planning,
Surgeon Training and Skills Assessment
The goal of surgical simulation research is to model and simulate deformable
materials for applications requiring real-time interaction. Medical applications for
this include simulation-based training, skills assessment and operation planning.
1 Parts of this chapter were previously published in International Journal for Numerical Methods
in Biomedical Engineering.
K. Miller () · A. Wittek · A. C. R. Tavner · G. R. Joldes
Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering,
The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
e-mail: karol.miller@uwa.edu.au
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
K. Miller (ed.), Biomechanics of the Brain, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04996-6_6
135
Biomechanical Modelling of the Brain for
Neurosurgical Simulation
and Neuroimage Registration
Karol Miller, Adam Wittek, Angus C. R. Tavner, and Grand Roman Joldes
6.1 Introduction
During neurosurgery, the brain can deform significantly. Despite the enormous
complexity of the brain (see Chap. 2), many aspects of its response can be
reasonably described in purely mechanical terms, such as displacements, strains and
stresses. Therefore the mechanical behaviour of the brain can be analysed using the
established methods of continuum mechanics. In this chapter we discuss approaches
to biomechanical modelling of the brain from the perspective of two distinct
applications: neurosurgical simulation and neuroimage registration in image-guided
surgery. These two challenging applications are described below. 1
6.1.1 Neurosurgical Simulation for Operation Planning,
Surgeon Training and Skills Assessment
The goal of surgical simulation research is to model and simulate deformable
materials for applications requiring real-time interaction. Medical applications for
this include simulation-based training, skills assessment and operation planning.
1 Parts of this chapter were previously published in International Journal for Numerical Methods
in Biomedical Engineering.
K. Miller () · A. Wittek · A. C. R. Tavner · G. R. Joldes
Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering,
The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
e-mail: karol.miller@uwa.edu.au
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
K. Miller (ed.), Biomechanics of the Brain, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04996-6_6
135