Towards patient specific, anatomy based simulation of facial mimics for surgical nerve rehabilitation

摘要

Nerve rehabilitation in cases of facial paralysis is an important issue in plastic and reconstructive surgery. However, surgeons need to know which muscles of the mimic musculature are most suited for reinnervation to achieve an optimal rehabilitation of a patient's physiognomy. We present results of our work on the simulation of anatomy based, muscle driven facial mimics on basis of an elaborate volumetric facial tissue model and a physics based tissue modelling approach, that could meet the demands for such a surgery planning task. In cases of facial paralysis surgeons are often confronted with the problem of the rehabilitation of specific facial nerves, for the reactivation of certain parts of the facial musculature. From the patient's point of view, facial paralysis often leads to a disability of non-verbal interpersonal communication, i.e. changes in facial expression that reveal the innermost feelings. Restoring function and expression to the highest possible degree, is a difficult task for a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Thus, predicting the influence of certain muscles on different facial expressions for individual patients is the envisioned goal of our project. Although the simulation of facial expressions is not a new topic in computer graphics and animation, we found only a few groups doing research in anatomy based muscular modelling for medical applications [1,2]. Most of the work comes from the field of biomechanics or trauma research. The simulation of muscle based facial expressions for surgical nerve rehabilitation to our opinion seems to be rather neglected.