CFC2023

Student

Towards fluid-structure interaction modelling in intracranial aneurysms

  • Goetz, Aurèle (Mines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research group)
  • Jeken-Rico, Pablo (Mines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research groupMines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research group)
  • Nemer, Ramy (Mines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research groupMines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research group)
  • Larcher, Aurélien (Mines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research groupMines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research group)
  • Hachem, Elie (Mines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research groupMines Paris - CEMEF, CFL Research group)

Please login to view abstract download link

Intracranial Aneurysms (IAs) are pathological dilations of arteries that bear the risk of rupture and subsequent subarachnoid haemorrhage, which is associated with high mortality and morbidity rates. When identified, they raise the question of a potential clinical operation, which also entails a non-negligible threat. As a result, there is a need for risk-evaluation tools to comprehensively assess IAs' stability. For this purpose, research effort is conducted to simulate intralobal haemodynamics through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), then to use patient-specific results for improving modelling assumptions, and finally aid physicians in decision-making. However, CFD simulations of vascular flow are subject to multiple assumptions and sources of error. Mostly forgotten probably because of the complexity of the required modelling, is the rigid wall assumption. Arterial tissue is commonly considered fully rigid and little has been done regarding elastic or hyperelastic modelling with fluid-structure coupling, although publications have reported that IAs may demonstrate very different mechanical properties and thickness profiles, due to several biological phenomena linked with their formation and growth. The scarce literature covering Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) in IAs mostly deals with complex patient-specific geometries. This, along with different modelling assumptions, undermines comparisons between studies, thereby limiting the progress in that field. Idealized geometries of sidewall aneurysms have been investigated through CFD simulations, showing the impact of various geometrical parameters on the resulting haemodynamics. However, such a simple aneurysm-like test case is still missing for studying FSI-related phenomena in a more controlled environment. To move towards a unified simulation baseline, we introduce an idealized geometry that allows us to simulate the interaction between a solid membrane and an impinging fluid flow arising from a curved artery. Owing to the simplicity of the proposed case, a large span of geometrical and physical parameters can be explored to assess the system's sensitivity and relevance of FSI modelling in different configurations.