Fundamental study of a virtual training system for maxillofacial palpation

Abstract

Maxillofacial palpation is a physical examination technique where face or jaw are touched with fingers to determine their shape, consistency and location. Dentists utilizes palpation to diagnose pathological condition of a patient suffered from maxillofacial diseases. This paper proposes a virtual training system for maxillofacial palpation. To provide a virtual palpation system, a basic patient model is constructed based on linear elastic finite element method. Finally the simulation results and the remained issues making the system more practical are discussed. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.