Warping Template Finite Element Models Into Alignment With Subject Specific Image Data
Anton E. Bowden, Richard D. Rabbitt, Jeffrey A. Weiss · Advances in Bioengineering · 1998
Abstract Detailed finite element (FE) models of biological tissues and structures are typically generated from medical image data collected from one individual subject — a process which draws from an array of segmentation and mesh generation tools. The geometric model is augmented with material constitutive properties as well as natural and essential boundary conditions. This is a time consuming process which is exacerbated by the inhomogeneity and anisotropy of biological structures. Even after the model is complete its application is usually limited to a single subject owing to geometric and constitutive variations between individuals. In many cases, however, it is possible to account for geometric variations by deforming the geometry of the detailed FE model to reflect the anatomy of an individual subject. In the present work this alignment is achieved automatically by using medical image data to drive a nonlinear deformation process termed anatomical warping.