Haemodynamic modelling of cerebrovascular aneurysm risk diagnosis using computer fluid dynamic (CFD)

A large number of different measures exist to determine the likelihood and risk of aneurysm rupture. In computational fluid dynamics (CFD) the likelihood of aneurysm rupture is predicted via physical forces enacted upon the blood vessel walls given by a set of known physiological parameters. The most common measures are wall shear stress (WSS) and energy loss (EL), though more exotic physical measurements exist and have been experimented upon (such as oscillary shear index) typically these are complex and unwieldy. Size measures are also used, including various ratios such as height to width (aspect ratios). In a clinical setting, typically decisions to treat are based on a simple measure of aneurysm size taken by a radiologist with computer simulations being too difficult and time consuming to be used, thus size measures for the foreseeable future will be the commonplace method of clinical radiological assessment. This study aims to perform a small number of case studies to correlate morphological characteristics with physical stresses known to predict aneurysm rupture in order to more accurately predict and quantify how these measures relate to each other and hopefully refine and improve the morphological parameters to improve clinical decision making.