Localized wound simulation

Wound simulation is considered important in the training of first response emergency teams for two reasons:

1. The physical appearance and behavior over time of the wound site are clues for diagnosis.
2. The size, shape, and location of wounds influence the rates at which physiological changes occur in the casualty.

The goal of this part of the project is to combine an accurate model of the wounding mechanism, i.e. the damage caused by a projectile, with a visual portrayal of the victim's localized physical response. Bleeding is one of the most important aspects of that response because blood loss not only impacts the extent of the injury but may also cause secondary trauma such as paralysis. A system for modeling and animating liquid phenomena [15] is being developed to simulate internal and external bleeding due to penetrative wounds (Appendix C). The method is based around the Navier-Stokes equations which can be used to describe the motion of a viscous fluid. This model has been extended to give realistic behavior to blood including clotting and water bridging. Where possible, computationally expensive parts of the fluid calculation have been simplified to give the high frame rate necessary for the real-time requirement of the MediSim application.