Image-based analysis of blood flow modification in stented aneurysms

Abstract

Currently there is increased interest in the use of stents as flow diverters for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms, especially wide necked aneurysms that are difficult to treat by coil embolization or surgical clipping. This paper presents image-based patient-specific computational models of the hemodynamics in cerebral aneurysms before and after treatment with a stent alone, with the goal of better understanding the hemodynamic effects of these devices and their relation to the outcome of the procedures. Stenting of cerebral aneurysms is a feasible endovascular treatment option for aneurysms with wide necks that are difficult to treat with coils or by surgical clipping. However, this requires stents that are capable of substantially modifying the intra-aneurysmal flow pattern in order to cause thrombosis of the aneurysm. The results presented in this paper show that the studied stent was able to change significantly the hemodynamic characteristics of the aneurysm. In addition, it was shown that patient-specific computational models constructed from medical images are capable of realistically representing the in vivo hemodynamic characteristics observed during conventional angiography examinations before and after stenting. This indicates that these models can be used to better understand the effects of different stent designs and to predict the alteration in the hemodynamic pattern of a given aneurysm produced by a given flow diverter. This is important for improving current design of flow diverting devices and patient treatment plans.