Numerical simulation on abdominal adhesion during physical palpation

Abstract

Adhesion is hard to detect as the symptom is similar to some other abdominal problems such as appendicitis, diverculitis or endometriosis. They can be accurately diagnosed by invasive method. Non-invasive method is used to facilitate the detection of adhesion. The most common non-invasive method is palpation, however the judgement varies between individuals. This study is part of the exploration of using tactile imaging to quantify the judgement by the stress induced during palpation. The objective is to simulate the deformation and stress induced by applying force on the abdomen to mimic the action of palpation. In depth understanding on the behaviour and response with the presence of adhesions can be achieved by analysing the change in stress pattern. The results showed that analysis of stress difference between models with and without adhesions is capable of identifying the presence and location of adhesions. Analysis of stress pattern by superimposing all irregularities yielded accurate detection of adhesions. The latter has shown more practical application.