Material Parameter Identification for Brain Tissue Using Open-Source Platforms - GIBBON and FEBio

An accurate estimation of the constitutive response of brain tissue is a crucial requirement for the development of a neurosurgical simulation framework. In this work, open-source platforms named GIBBON and FEBio have been utilized to solve an inverse finite element-based optimization problem for calibrating the material parameters for the brain tissue. The ex-vivo uniaxial force-displacement data for the goat brain tissue has been used for calibration. The objective of the study is to demonstrate the differences in material parameters calibrated using standard least-square curve fitting and inverse finite element method. Although a close agreement between the stress-strain curves from experimental data, curve fitting and inverse finite element method was observed, however, a significant deviation was found between the material parameters extracted from both the methods. The extracted material parameters could then be used to represent brain tissue for developing and solving boundary value problems concerning neurosurgical procedures.