Physical and FEM Simulation of Microprobe Insertion into Brain Tissue
A. Eed Olamat, U. Hofmann, B. Pohl, and N. NkemasongUniversity of Lübeck, Institute for Signal Processing, Lübeck, Germany
In order to investigate the implantation of microprobes into brain tissue, we developed a finite-element and a physical model to replace real biological tissue for mechanical testing. Penetrating forces of a tungsten indenter into a layered structure was investigated with different indentation speeds. Numerical and physical model are in good correspondence to each other and reproduce measured brain elasticity (15kPa) and dimpling effects followed by rupturing of the top layer well. We suggest for future mechanical evaluation of brain probes to first utilize model structures before animal testing.
