Computational fluid dynamics for intracranial aneurysm rupture prediction and post-treatment hemodynamic analysis

Abstract

Intracranial aneurysm is a cerebrovascular disorder that weakens the intima of the cerebral artery or vein causing a local dilation of the blood vessel after which the blood vessel becomes thin and ruptures without warning. The resultant bleeding into the space around the brain is called subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). In this context, there is an urgent need for early aneurysm rupture prediction that could save numerous human lives. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has proved to be potent enough for the prediction of intracranial aneurysm rupture. The computational analysis along with the expertise in numerical methods for the virtual prediction of complicated life-threatening medical disorders is essential to be focused for the betterment of society. In this research, we aimed to predict the rupture of intracranial aneurysm through different morphological parameters of the aneurysm and changes in hemodynamics obtained from CFD. The various treatment options for intracranial aneurysm involves endovascular clipping, coiling and both coiling and stenting. We demonstrated quantitatively and qualitatively the hemodynamic changes (velocity, pressure, and wall shear stress—WSS) in artery after stent implantation and coiling into the 3D reconstructed patient-specific artery model, taking into consideration the non-Newtonian characteristics of blood using finite element approach. We also performed a comparison between scenarios of aneurysm and normal artery without aneurysm, which showed considerably high WSS, pressure, and velocity values in the model with aneurysm. The possible treatment options for the case were also computationally analyzed with the fluid structure interaction (FSI) which showed stenting and coiling considerably reduced the WSS on the aneurysm dome. It was speculated that low WSS at the tip of the aneurysm and high WSS on the aneurysm dome is responsible for the rupture of aneurysm.