Method for in-vivo measurement of biomechanical properties of internal tissues

A method for determining material properties of internal tissues of a body, the method comprising the steps of:

• a. providing force measuring device, said force measuring device comprising:
• i. a probe head having a dimension suitable for insertion into the body cavity;
• ii. a load cell operatively connected to said probe head such that forces on said probe head are transmitted to said load cell;
• iii. a relatively rigid portion joined to said probe head by a relatively flexible portion such that said probe head is flexibly joined to said relatively rigid portion and can move laterally with respect to a longitudinal center line of said relatively rigid portion;
• and
• b. providing an imaging means for acquiring images of deformation or displacement of tissues inside a body cavity;
• c. providing a calculation means for quantifying displacement of internal tissues;
• d. providing numerical modeling software for performing finite element analysis;
• e. inserting at least a portion of said probe head into the body cavity;
• f. applying force with said probe head against an internal body tissue;
• g. measuring said force applied to said internal body tissue;
• h. acquiring images of displacement of said internal body tissue;
• i. calculating said displacement of said internal body tissue;
• and
• j. calculating material properties from said measured force and said calculated displacement,
• k. constructing a numerical model for said probe;
• l. constructing a numerical model for said internal tissues;
• m. integrating said numerical model of said probe and said numerical model of said internal tissues and numerically simulating movement of said probe in said body cavity;
• n. comparing simulated displacement of said internally tissues and simulated force applied to said probe from step (m) with quantified force from step (g) and displacement from step (i);
• o. iterating steps (k) through (n) changing modeling variables as necessary until simulated values for displacement and force substantially agree with actual measured values.