Large-Eddy-Simulation of Brain Aneurysms

Rupture of cerebral aneurysms often leads to mortality or sever morbidity in most cases. Pathogenesis of aneurysms has been attributed to abnormal flow-induced forces that act on the vessel walls. These forces are typically measured by first recreating patient’s aneurysm model from medical images, and, afterwards, using these as input for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate blood flow. Majority of CFD-derived literature predicts stable (laminar) flow patterns, whereas our higher-order CFD simulations have shown highly unstable (“turbulentlike”) flows, consistent with experimental studies. From clinical perspective, these higher-order CFD techniques are computationally expensive and thus, infeasible. To reduce the computation times while maintaining accuracy, we aim to use Large-eddy-simulation techniques, an area of expertise of Dr. Nicoud’s group who have recently applied it to heart flows. This unique collaborative initiative between two world-leading groups will, for the first time, investigate the clinical feasibility of LES techniques for aneurysm rupture risk assessment, with an aim to reduce the computation times.

Faculty Supervisor:

David A. Steinman

Student:

Muhammad Owais Khan

Partner:

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Globalink Research Award