Identification of the material parameters of soft tissues in the compressed leg.

Laura Dubuis (1, 2, 3, 4) , Stéphane Avril (1, 2, 3, 4) , Johan Debayle (1, 3, 5, 6) , Pierre Badel (1, 2, 3, 4)

1 CIS-ENSMSE - Centre Ingénierie et Santé
2 DB2M-ENSMSE - Département Biomécanique et Biomatériaux
3 IFRESIS - Institut Fédératif de Recherche en Sciences et Ingénierie de la Santé
4 LCG-ENSMSE - UMR 5146 - Laboratoire Claude Goux
5 LPMG-EMSE - Laboratoire des Procédés en Milieux Granulaires
6 DIM-ENSMSE - Département Imagerie et Morphologie

Elastic compression is recommended in prophylaxis and the treatment of venous disorder of the human leg. However, the mechanisms of compression are not completely understood and the response of internal tissues to the external pressure is partially unknown. To address this later issue, a 3D FE model of a human leg is developed. The geometry is derived from 3D CT scans. The FE model is made up of soft tissues and rigid bones. An inverse method is applied to identify the properties of soft tissues which are modelled as hyperelastic, near-incompressible, homogeneous and isotropic materials. The principle is to calibrate the constitutive properties using CT scans carried out with and without the presence of a compression sock. The deformed geometry computed by the calibrated FE model is in agreement with the geometry deduced from the CT scans. The model also provides the internal pressure distribution, which may lead to medical exploitation in the future.

Mots clés: soft tissues; elastic compression; mechanical identification; FE model; constitutive properties

Domaines: Génie des procédés; Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]; Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]

Laura Dubuis, Stéphane Avril, Johan Debayle, Pierre Badel. Identification of the material parameters of soft tissues in the compressed leg.. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2012, 15 (1), pp.3-11. ⟨10.1080/10255842.2011.586945⟩. ⟨hal-00682221⟩