Contact Modeling and Collision Detection in Human Joints

Abstract

The precise evaluation of joint movements, using reconstructed three-dimensional models of the joint tissues, is an important issue in many medical diagnosis and surgery planning. In order to achieve appropriate results by analyzing 3D joint models, efficient and accurate evaluation of contact among the virtual tissues is critical. In this chapter, some recent works regarding contact modeling and collision detection in human joints have been covered. First, two new different fast collision detection methods, suitable for evaluating human joints, have been explained. These methods take advantage of the relative proximity and the nature of the movement in human joints, in order to discard unnecessary calculations. Later, two medical applications based on these collision detection methods, which involve finding the maximum range of motion in human joints and also evaluating joint diseases (i.e. Femoroacetabular Impingements) have been discussed. Finally, the results of an investigation of the sensitivity of the joint contact evaluation to the estimated center of rotation, again by exploiting the explained collision detection methods, have been presented. Many of the mentioned applications and investigations have been examined by using 3D models of human hip joints; however, due to the nature of the methods, they can be applied to other types of human joints too.