Software¶

The SPECULAR project contributes to open-source software for medical simulation. All developed code is freely available for research and educational use.

SOFA Framework¶

SPECULAR is built on top of SOFA (Simulation Open Framework Architecture), an open-source framework for real-time simulation.

SOFA Main Repository

C++ framework for multi-physics simulation

GitHub

Documentation

User guides, API reference, and tutorials

sofa-framework.org

Download

Pre-compiled binaries and source code

Downloads

SPECULAR Plugins¶

ModelOrderReduction Plugin¶

Enhanced with hybrid simulation capabilities developed in SPECULAR.

Features: - Proper Generalized Decomposition (PGD) - Empirical Cubature Hyper-Reduction (ECSW) - Hybrid reduced/full model coupling - Real-time performance

Download Documentation

SoftRobots Plugin¶

Extended with needle-specific constraints and haptic coupling.

Features: - Constraint-based contact mechanics - Haptic device integration - Force feedback rendering - Actuator models

Download Documentation

SPECULAR Scenes¶

Sample simulation scenarios for needle insertion training.

Contents: - Liver phantom models - Needle instrument definitions - Training scenarios - Validation benchmarks

Download ZIP

Getting Started¶

Installation¶

Prerequisites¶

OS: Windows 10/11, Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+), macOS 10.15+
Compiler: Visual Studio 2019+, GCC 9+, Clang 10+
CMake 3.16+
Python 3.7+

Quick Install¶

# Clone SOFA
git clone https://github.com/sofa-framework/sofa.git
cd sofa

# Configure and build
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)

With Plugins¶

# Clone plugins
git clone https://github.com/sofa-framework/ModelOrderReduction.git
git clone https://github.com/sofa-framework/SoftRobots.git

# Configure with plugins
cmake -DPLUGIN_MODELORDERREDUCTION=ON \
      -DPLUGIN_SOFTROBOTS=ON \
      ..

Running SPECULAR Scenes¶

# Launch SOFA with SPECULAR scene
cd build/bin
./runSofa /path/to/specular/needle_insertion.pyscn

Tutorials¶

Tutorial 1: Basic Needle Insertion¶

Learn to set up a simple needle insertion simulation.

Watch Video Download Files

Tutorial 2: Haptic Integration¶

Connect a haptic device to your simulation.

Watch Video Download Files

Tutorial 3: Custom Scenarios¶

Create your own training scenarios.

Watch Video Download Files

API Reference¶

Python Bindings¶

SOFA provides Python bindings for rapid prototyping:

import Sofa

# Create scene
def createScene(root):
    root.gravity = [0, -9.81, 0]
    root.dt = 0.01

    # Add liver model
    liver = root.addChild('liver')
    liver.addObject('MechanicalObject',
                     template='Vec3d',
                     position='@meshLoader.position')
    liver.addObject('TetrahedronFEMForceField',
                    youngModulus=5000,
                    poissonRatio=0.45)

    return root

C++ API¶

For performance-critical components, use the C++ API:

#include <sofa/core/ObjectFactory.h>
#include <SofaBaseMechanics/MechanicalObject.h>

// Create mechanical object
MechanicalObject3::SPtr mechObj =
    sofa::core::objectmodel::New<MechanicalObject3>();

Validation¶

Benchmarks¶

Performance benchmarks are provided for validation:

Test Case	Mesh Size	Real-time Factor
Liver deformation	5K tetrahedra	50x
Needle insertion	10K tetrahedra	10x
Haptic coupling	10K tetrahedra	1kHz stable

Unit Tests¶

# Run SPECULAR tests
cd build/bin
./SofaTest --gtest_filter=SPECULAR*

Contributing¶

We welcome contributions! Please see:

Reporting Bugs¶

For SPECULAR-specific issues:

Check existing issues
Create new issue with label SPECULAR
Include minimal reproducible example

Citation¶

If you use SPECULAR software in your research:

@software{specular2021,
  title={SPECULAR: Simulation of Percutaneous Procedures},
  author={SPECULAR Consortium},
  year={2021},
  url={https://specular-project.github.io}
}

@software{sofa2021,
  title={SOFA: Simulation Open Framework Architecture},
  author={Faure, Fran{\c{c}}ois and others},
  year={2021},
  url={https://www.sofa-framework.org}
}

Support¶

Community¶

Forum: SOFA Forum
Discord: Join SOFA Discord
GitHub Discussions: SOFA Discussions

SPECULAR-Specific Support¶

For questions specific to SPECULAR:

Email: support@specular-project.fr
GitHub Issues with tag SPECULAR

License¶

SOFA and SPECULAR plugins are released under the LGPL v2.1 license.

Copyright (C) 2021-2025 SPECULAR Consortium

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation.