Abstract
he chapter relies on recent biomechanical knowledge in the modeling of the female pelvis related to vaginal delivery. The main objective of the study is to predict the injury risk leading to a potential pelvic-floor disorder during vaginal delivery by using a model reduction technique.
The model reduction technique presented in this chapter combines simplified physics with the design of experiments. Based on the major geometrical parameters influencing the successful course of vaginal delivery, a set of design models combining input parameters is developed by scaling the reference model.
The reference model processes both geometrical and material data necessary to describe the vaginal delivery using the finite element method. The set of design models feeds the design-of-experiment method, which reduces the numerical calculations by the response surface model for predicting injury risk for multiple anatomical types of the female pelvic floor.