Research on simulation and experiment of noninvasive intracranial pressure monitoring based on acoustoelasticity effects

Abstract

The real-time monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) is very important for craniocerebrally critically ill patients, but it is very difficult to realize long-time monitoring for the traditional invasive method, which very easily infects patients. Many noninvasive methods have emerged, but these have not been able to monitor ICP for long periods in real time, and they are not ready for clinical application. In order to realize long-time, online, real-time, noninvasive monitoring for ICP, a new method based on acoustoelasticity of ultrasound is herein proposed. Experimental models were devised to research the new method for experiment and simulation. Polymethyl methacrylate and hydrogel were adopted for the experiment, and their mechanical properties were very close to the real brain. A numerical solution for acoustoelasticity theory was acquired by simulating calculation based on a finite-element method. This was compared to the experimental value. The results showed a consistent match between theoretical solution and experimental value, with maximum error at most 5%. Thus, the effectiveness of the new method was verified. Theoretical and practical foundation is provided for this new method, and it could be used for animal experimentation or clinical testing in further research. © 2013 Wu et al.