Numerical Simulation of Intracranial Aneurysms Flow: An Investigation on Wall Curvature and Microsurgical Clips Effects in their Hemodynamics and Wall Mechanics

• Grant number: 23/06609-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: April 01, 2024 - March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Transport Phenomena
• Principal Investigator: Iago Lessa de Oliveira
• Grantee: Iago Lessa de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: José Luiz Gasche ; Philip Cardiff
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/08176-5 - Using Computational Solid Dynamics to Assess the Contact Effect of a Stent Expansion on an Aneurismatic Cerebral Artery, BP.IC

Abstract

Intracranial aneurysms (IAs) are abnormalities formed in the cerebral arteries characterized by outpouching regions of their walls. The danger with these lesions occurs if they rupture, which causes an intracranial hemorrhage and possibly leads to the death of the patient, presenting a mortality rate as high as 50%. The rupture event is hard to predict, though, and surgical treatments also pose risks to patients. Currently, there are two options: endovascular treatment, in which the IA is filled with small coils, or clipping, in which the IA is clipped on its neck, thus interrupting the inflow of blood to the aneurysm. Numerical simulations of the blood flow inside IAs have been extensively used to study them because of the well-known connections between hemodynamics and their inception, growth, and rupture. The flexibility of numerical techniques allows for the possibility of investigating different open questions related to the disease, its rupture and its physical modeling. Thus, this project aims to use numerical simulations via the software OpenFOAM® and solids4foam to investigate two aspects related to the disease itself and its management by neurosurgeons. The effect of IAs wall curvature in the local hemodynamics and in the mechanical structure of the wall will be investigated and, in the case of treated IAs, the effect of the clippings, in microclipping surgery, on the aneurysm wall mechanical response will be analyzed. These goals could potentially lead to improved rupture indicators to predict the rupture of IAs and also a better understanding of IAs and the treatments to it. (AU)