Measurement of the mechanical response of intra-abdominal organs of fresh human cadavers for use in surgical simulation.

Determination of soft tissue properties is essential for the realism of the virtual scenarios. The major challenge is that soft tissues exhibit complicated mechanical properties including viscoelastic, nonlinear, inhomogeneous, and rate dependent behaviors. Measurements on live human patients present significant risks, thus making the use of cadavers a logical alternative. Cadavers are widely used in present day surgical training, are relatively easy to procure through excellent donor programs and have the right anatomy, which makes them better candidates for training than the porcine model. To investigate the static and dynamic properties of soft tissue, we have developed a high precision tactile stimulator by modifying an existing haptic interface device, the Phantom, and used it to record the force-displacement behavior of intra-abdominal organs of fresh human cadavers at the US Surgical facility in Connecticut and Albany Medical College.