A new numerical approach to mechanically analyse biological structures

Abstract

In this work, an advanced discretization meshless technique is used to study the structural response of a human brain due to an impact load. The 2D and 3D brain geometrical models, and surrounding structures, were obtained through the processing of medical images, allowing to achieve a realistic geometry for the virtual model and to define the distribution of the mechanical properties accordingly with the medical images colour scale. Additionally, a set of essential and natural boundary conditions were assumed in order to reproduce a sudden impact force applied to the cranium. Then, a structural numerical analysis was performed using the Natural Neighbour Radial Point Interpolation Method (NNRPIM). The obtained results were compared with the finite element method (FEM) and a solution available in the literature. This work shows that the NNRPIM is a robust and accurate numerical technique, capable to produce results very close to other numerical approaches. In addition, the variable fields obtained with the meshless method are much smoother than the FEM corresponding solution.

Keywords:

• Brain impact
• meshless methods
• natural neighbours
• radial point interpolator

Acknowledgments

The authors truly acknowledge the funding provided by Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal), under Grants SFRH/BD/110047/2015, and by project funding MIT-EXPL/ISF/0084/2017. Additionally, the authors gratefully acknowledge the funding of Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000022 - SciTech - Science and Technology for Competitive and Sustainable Industries, co-financed by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER).

Disclosure Statement

There is no conflict of interest to declare. This research did not involve human participants and animals.