Modeling the Dynamics of the Human Thigh for a Realistic Echographic Simulator with Force Feedback

This paper proposes a mass spring model of the dynamics of a human thigh based on real data acquired Using a force sensor mounted on a robot arm the deformation of the thigh with respect to an external force is measured The stress strain curves we obtained exhibit a strong non linearity due to the incompressibility of the human tissue Hence we propose a two layer model of the thigh using both linear and non linear visco elastic springs to simulate the observed behaviour The parameters of the springs are estimated using a least squares minimisation method Finally we discuss the feasibility of our model as part of a fully func tional simulator coupled with a haptic interface to train practitioners for echographic exams