On the Impact of Flow-Diverters on the Hemodynamics of Human Cerebral Aneurysms

The impact of flow-diverters used for cerebral aneurysm treatment on human brain hemodynamics was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. Numerical simulation of flow-diverter placement in cerebral vessels with aneurysms was carried out for the case history of a real patient using the commercial ANSYS 17.2 package with different (Newtonian and non-Newtonian) hydrodynamic models for blood rheology in different parts of the vessel and aneurysm, which is due to experimental data. It is shown that after flow-diverter placement, the blood flow through the artery segment containing the aneurysm neck decreases, resulting in a redistribution of the cerebral blood flow, which becomes close to the blood flow in healthy subjects. Changes in wall shear stresses in the flow-diverter region are indicative of possible aneurysm recanalization.