Numerical Biomechanics Lab

Lab, 4 SWS, 4 ECTS, Summer Semester

Motivation & Content

In numerical biomechanics, biological systems are simulated with the aim of gaining new insights into their functioning, developing therapy prognoses and planning operations. To solve biomedical problems, realistic modeling and simulation of the biological system is necessary. For this purpose, the finite element method is used in the practical course.

Schedule

In the first part of the practical course, the entire procedure from medical imaging to simulation is performed using the biomechanical example of abdominal aortic aneurysm. This includes the following steps:

• Segmentation of patient specific geometries from CT image data
• Creation of a finite element mesh of the aneurysm wall
• Simulation of the aneurysm under internal pressure
• Evaluation of the results with regard to the rupture risk

In the second part of the lab, the following topics will be covered in detail:

• Boundary conditions in structural simulations (e.g. Dirichlet, spring boundary condition)
• Material modeling (e.g. nonlinear, viscoelastic)
• Comparison of mesh topologies (e.g. tetrahedron, hexahedron)
• Boundary conditions in fluid simulations (e.g. windkessel)

These topics will be worked on independently on the basis of medical problems involving the heart, lungs and aortic aneurysm.

Applied software: Mimics, Gmsh, ParaView and BACI (In-house finite element software)