Display Omitted We present a method to robustly track the geometry of an object that deforms over time.We fit a FEM-based model to the data leading to physically plausible results.We evaluate the performance of our method using synthetic and scanned data. We present an approach to robustly track the geometry of an object that deforms over time from a set of input point clouds captured from a single viewpoint. The deformations we consider are caused by applying forces to known locations on the object's surface. Our method combines the use of prior information on the geometry of the object modeled by a smooth template and the use of a linear finite element method to predict the deformation. This allows the accurate reconstruction of both the observed and the unobserved sides of the object. We present tracking results for noisy low-quality point clouds acquired by either a stereo camera or a depth camera, and simulations with point clouds corrupted by different error terms. We show that our method is also applicable to large non-linear deformations.
Modeling the deformation of human organs for surgery simulation systems has turned out to be quite a challenge. Not only is very little known about the physical properties of general human tissue but in addition, most conventional modeling techniques are not applicable because of the timing requirements of simulation systems. To produce a video-like visualization of a deforming organ, the deformation must be determined at rates of 10-20 times s. In the fields of elasticity and related modeling paradigms, the main interest has been the development of accurate mathematical models. The speed of these models has been a secondary interest. But for surgery simulation systems, the priorities are reversed. The main interest is the speed and robustness of the models, and accuracy is of less concern. Recent years have seen the development of different practical modeling techniques that take into account the reversed priorities and can be used in practice for real-time modeling of deformable organs. The paper discusses some of these new techniques in the reference frame of finite element models. In particular, it builds on the recent work by the author on fast finite element models and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these models in comparison to previous models.