Biomechanical Models for Soft Tissue Simulation

Information Technology is having an increasing influence on medicine. This can be readily observed by anybody visiting a hospital or consulting a doctor, or even by going to the chemist. A range of new medical instruments, new scanners, new on-line diagnostics as well as more effective distribution methods all increasingly contain IT elements that enable new more effective medical tools and services. But there is also a lot going on "e;behind the scenes"e;, at the research and development level, that will greatly influence the medical tools and services of tomorrow. In this respect, Esprit, the European Commission's IT research program, has been supporting a range of research and development projects that are contributing to the opening of new avenues in the medical field. At the 1997 European IT Conference, a special exhibit has highlighted Esprit's contributions in the area, including, for example projects that have succeeded in developing: * a prototype visual prosthesis linked to the optic nerve (MIVIP) * implantable blood micro-pumps (IMALP) * new low-power pacemakers and defibrillators (HIPOCRA T) * new high-quality 3D ultrasound images (NICE) * realistic computer models of the human musculo-skeletal system (CHARM) CHARM, the last - but not least - of these, is further elaborated in this book.