ABSTRACT
The paper addresses the issue of ventral hernia repair. Finite Element simulations can be helpful in the optimization of hernia parameters. A membrane abdominal wall model is proposed in two variants: a healthy one and including hernia defect repaired by implant. The models include many uncertainties, e.g. due to variability of abdominal wall, intraabdominal pressure value etc. Measuring mechanical properties with high accuracy is a challenging task in the case of living patients. The main aim of the study is to analyse sensitivity of uncertainties on the difference between the behaviour of a healthy and repaired abdominal wall with a surgical mesh implanted. Global sensitivity analysis is performed and Sobol’ indices are calculated throughout the research. Regression-based polynomial chaos expansion is employed to reduce the number of required simulations. These outcomes will be used in efficient planning of further experimental and numerical studies.
