Simulation of lipofilling reconstructive surgery using coupled Eulerian fluid and deformable solid models

Abstract

We present a method to simulate the outcome of reconstructive facial surgery based on fat-filling. Facial anatomy is complex: the fat is constrained between layers of tissues which behave as walls along the face; in addition, connective tissues that are present between these different layers also influence the fat-filling procedure. To simulate the end result, we propose a method which couples a 2.5D Eulerian fluid model for the fat and a finite element model for the soft tissues. The two models are coupled using the computation of the mechanical compliance matrix. Two contributions are presented in this paper: a solver for fluids which couples properties of solid tissues and fluid pressure, and an application of this solver to fat-filling surgery procedure simulation. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.