Simulation of guidewires in blood vessels using Cosserat rod theory.
# Simulating Guidewires in Blood Vessels using Cosserat Rod Theory
This project was created as part of my master thesis.
The objective of this thesis was to model a guidewire using the Cosserat Rod theory and simulate the interaction between a guidewire and blood vessels.
## Installation
This project can either be opened in Unity, which allows for a full access and customization of the implementation.
For this, the Unity Editor with version 2020.3.29f1 (LTS) or higher must be downloaded and installed [from here](https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download).
Once Unity is installed, clone the project to your local machine and open it with Unity Hub (Open --> Add project from disk).
Alternatively, several API's are available as well for an easy integration into other existing Unity projects in the form of packages. These are available in the Packages folder. Simply import these into your project with Assets -> Import Package -> Custom Package.
Assets like guidewires of different lengths can also be imported as assets with Assets -> Import New Asset.
## Getting Started
The two central pieces are the *Simulation* and the *Guidewire* GameObjects.
The *Guidewire* GameObject holds all *Spheres* and *Cylinder* GameObjects that the guidewire consists of. If *Spheres* or *Cylinders* are added or removed, the *Simulation Loop* component of the *Simulation* GameObject has to be modified respondingly.
The *Simulation* GameObject holds all components that run the algorithm. Several parameters of these components can be modified within the Unity Editor to change the way the simulation is running.
Examples are to select the constraints that should be active, or wether to run the constraint solving step in bilateral interleaving order or in naive order.
### Importing into an existing Project
For an importation into an existing project, several settings have to be set.
- The assembly definition containing the imported code must have th "Allow Unsafe Code" checked to be able to use BulletSharp.
- The collision of kinematic-kinematic pairs has to be enabled. To do this, go to Project Settings -> Physics -> Contact Pairs Mode -> Enable Kinematic Kinematic Pairs.
- Collision is only necessary between the guidewire and the blood vessel, i.e. no self collision. To turn the self collision of the guidewire off, go to Project Settings -> Physics -> Layer Collision Matrix -> Uncheck Guidewire Guidewire Box.
- If you modify an existing guidewire prefab, each sphere and cylinder primitive must have the layer "Guidewire".
- If you add other blood vessel objects, i.e. objects the guidewire should collide with, the object has to have the layer "Blood Vessel".
### Executing Play Tests
Collision tests, force tests, torque tests and stress tests can be executed by checking the respective test in the *Simulation* GameObject and pressing play.
For the description of these tests simply hover over the respective check mark on the *Simulation* GameObject.
## Documentation
A Documentation was created using Doxygen. It is stored within this repository [here](https://github.com/rv3Dcv/GuidewireSimulation/tree/main/GuidewireSimulation/GuidewireSimulation/Doxygen%20Documentation).
The PDF version of the documentation can be viewed [here](https://github.com/rv3Dcv/GuidewireSimulation/blob/main/GuidewireSimulation/GuidewireSimulation/Doxygen%20Documentation/latex/LaTeX%20Documentation%20Guidewire.pdf).
