Analysis of Collision Detection Using Implicit Sphere Tree in Saptic Interaction Environments for Maxillofacial Surgery Applications

Facial malformations such as overbite or underbite can be treated by maxillofacial surgery where the mandibula (i.e. the lower jaw) and/or maxilla (i.e. the upper jaw) is repositioned to obtain a preferential occlusion. These treatments need to be carefully planned prior to the actual operation. The planning of such surgery is an intensive and time consuming procedure in which the experience and knowledge of the surgeon plays a major role. As part of a CAD-based surgery planning, haptic interaction using 3D virtual models of the mandibula and maxilla, haptic feedback can make planning and surgery much more efficient. Haptic devices bridge the gap between the virtual environment and the physical world. An important step in such haptics based workflow is the collision detection between the two models at an update frequency of at least 1000 Hz. In this paper the possibility of the Implicit Sphere Tree algorithm as a collision detection algorithm tailored for this specific application is presented.