Neurovascular stent artifacts in 3D-TOF and 3D-PCMRI: Influence of stent design on flow measurement.

PURPOSE: The morphological and hemodynamic evaluations of neurovascular diseases treated with stents would benefit from noninvasive imaging techniques such as 3D time-of-flight MRI (3D-TOF) and 3D phase contrast MRI (3D-PCMRI). For this purpose, a comprehensive evaluation of the stent artifacts and their impact on the flow measurement is critical. METHODS: The artifacts of a representative sample of neurovascular stents were evaluated in vitro with 3D-TOF and 3D-PCMRI sequences. The dependency of the artifacts with respect to the orientation was analyzed for each stent design as well as the impact on the flow measurement accuracy. Furthermore, the 3D-PCMRI data of four patients carrying intracranial aneurysms treated with flow diverter stents were analyzed as illustrative examples. RESULTS: The stent artifacts were mainly confined to the stent lumen therefore indicating the leading role of shielding effect. The influence of the stent design and its orientation with respect to the transmitting MR coils were highlighted. The artifacts impacted the 3D-PCMRI velocities mainly in the low magnitude domains, which were discarded from the analysis ensuring reliable near-stent velocities. The feasibility of in-stent flow measurements was confirmed in vivo on two patients who showed strong correlation between flow and geometric features. In two other patients, the consistency of out-of-stent velocities was verified qualitatively through intra-aneurysmal streamlines except when susceptibility artifacts occurred. CONCLUSION: The present results motivate the conception of low inductance or nonconductive stent design. Furthermore, the feasibility of near-stent 3D-PCMRI measurements opens the door to clinical applications like the post-treatment follow-up of stenoses or intracranial aneurysms.

Hemodynamics of Focal Versus Global Growth of Small Cerebral Aneurysms.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemodynamics play a driving role in the life cycle of brain aneurysms from initiation through growth until eventual rupture. The specific factors behind aneurysm growth, especially in small aneurysms, are not well elucidated. The goal of this study was to differentiate focal versus general growth and to analyze the hemodynamic microenvironment at the sites of enlargement in small cerebral aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Small aneurysms showing growth during follow-up were identified from our prospective aneurysm database. Three dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA) studies before and after morphology changes were available for all aneurysms included in the study, allowing for detailed shape and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) based hemodynamic analysis. Six patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Two different types of change were observed: focal growth, with bleb or blister formation in three, and global aneurysm enlargement accompanied by neck broadening in other three patients. Areas of focal growth showed low shear conditions with increased oscillations at the site of growth (a low wall shear stress [WSS] and high oscillatory shear index [OSI]). Global aneurysm enlargement was associated with increased WSS coupled with a high spatial wall shear stress gradient (WSSG). CONCLUSION: For different aneurysm growth types, distinctive hemodynamic microenvironment may be responsible and temporal-spatial changes of the pathologic WSS would have the inciting effect. We suggest the distinction of focal and global growth types in future hemodynamic and histological studies.

3D phase contrast MRI: Partial volume correction for robust blood flow quantification in small intracranial vessels.

PURPOSE: Recent advances in 3D-PCMRI (phase contrast MRI) sequences allow for measuring the complex hemodynamics in cerebral arteries. However, the small size of these vessels vs spatial resolution can lead to non-negligible partial volume artifacts, which must be taken into account when computing blood flow rates. For this purpose, we combined the velocity information provided by 3D-PCMRI with vessel geometry measured with 3DTOF (time of flight MRI) or 3DRA (3D rotational angiography) to correct the partial volume effects in flow rate assessments. METHODS: The proposed methodology was first tested in vitro on cylindrical and patient specific vessels subject to fully controlled pulsatile flows. Both 2D- and 3D-PCMRI measurements using various spatial resolutions ranging from 20 to 1.3 voxels per vessel diameter were analyzed and compared with flowmeter baseline. Second, 3DTOF, 2D- and 3D-PCMRI measurements were performed in vivo on 35 patients harboring internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysms indicated for endovascular treatments requiring 3DRA imaging. RESULTS: The in vitro 2D- and 3D-PCMRI mean flow rates assessed with partial volume correction showed very low sensitivity to the acquisition resolution above ≈2 voxels per vessel diameter while uncorrected flow rates deviated critically when decreasing the spatial resolution. 3D-PCMRI flow rates measured in vivo in ICA agreed very well with 2D-PCMRI data and a good flow conservation was observed at the C7 bifurcation. Globally, partial volume correction led to 10-15% lower flow rates than uncorrected values as those reported in most of the published studies on intracranial flows. CONCLUSION: Partial volume correction may improve the accuracy of PCMRI flow rate measurements especially in small vessels such as intracranial arteries. Magn Reson Med 79:129-140, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of flow reduction induced by flow-diverting stents in intracranial aneurysms: a patient-unspecific hemodynamics change perspective.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Flow-diverter stents (FDSs) have been used effectively to treat large neck and complex saccular aneurysms on the anterior carotid circulation. Intra-aneurysmal flow reduction induces progressive aneurysm thrombosis in most patients. Understanding the degree of flow modification necessary to induce complete aneurysm occlusion among patients with considerable hemodynamics variability may be important for treatment planning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with incidental intracranial saccular aneurysms who underwent FDS endovascular procedures were included and studied for a 12 months' follow-up period. We used computational fluid dynamics on patient-specific geometries from 3D rotational angiography without and with virtual stent placement and thus compared intra-aneurysmal hemodynamic problems. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to estimate the stent:no-stent minimum hemodynamic ratio thresholds that significantly (p≤0.05) determined the condition necessary for long-term (12 months) aneurysm occlusion. RESULTS: We included 12 consecutive patients with sidewall aneurysms located in the internal carotid or vertebral artery. The measured porosity of the 12 deployed virtual FDSs was 83±3% (mean±SD). Nine aneurysms were occluded during the 12 months' follow-up, whereas three were not. A significant (p=0.05) area under the curve (AUC) was found for spatiotemporal mean velocity reduction in the aneurysms: AUC=0.889±0.113 (mean±SD) corresponding to a minimum velocity reduction threshold of 0.353 for occlusion to occur. The 95% CI of the AUC was 0.66 to 1.00. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were ∼99% and ∼67%, respectively. For both wall shear stress and pressure reductions in aneurysms no thresholds could be determined: AUC=0.63±0.16 (p=0.518) and 0.67±0.165 (p=0.405), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: For successful FDS treatment the post-stent average velocity in sidewall intracranial aneurysms must be reduced by at least one-third from the initial pre-stent conditions.

Geometrical deployment for braided stent.

The prediction of flow diverter stent (FDS) implantation for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) is being increasingly required for hemodynamic simulations and procedural planning. In this paper, a deployment model was developed based on geometrical properties of braided stents. The proposed mathematical description is first applied on idealized toroidal vessels demonstrating the stent shortening in curved vessels. It is subsequently generalized to patient specific vasculature predicting the position of the filaments along with the length and local porosity of the stent. In parallel, in-vitro and in-vivo FDS deployments were measured by contrast-enhanced cone beam CT (CBCT) in idealized and patient-specific geometries. These measurements showed a very good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the virtual deployments and provided experimental validations of the underlying geometrical assumptions. In particular, they highlighted the importance of the stent radius assessment in the accuracy of the deployment prediction. Thanks to its low computational cost, the proposed model is potentially implementable in clinical practice providing critical information for patient safety and treatment outcome assessment.

Computational fluid dynamics with stents: quantitative comparison with particle image velocimetry for three commercial off the shelf intracranial stents.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in stented intracranial aneurysms (IAs) is still lacking, to reliably predict prone to occlusion hemodynamics, probing, in particular, velocity reduction, and flow pattern changes. This study compares CFD outcome with particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) for three commercial off the shelf (COTS) stents of different material densities. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The recently developed uniform and high precision multi-time lag PIV method was applied to a sidewall aneurysm before and after implantation of three COTS stents with high, intermediate, and low material densities. The measured laser sheet flow patterns and velocity reductions were compared with CFD results and correlated with stent material density. RESULTS: Velocity reduction was in good agreement for unstented high and low porosity stented IA, while flow pattern change was fully matched for unstented and high porosity stented IA. Poor CFD-PIV matching in IA was found for intermediate porosity stents. CONCLUSIONS: CFD reproduced fully PIV measurements in unstented and high porosity stented IAs. With low porosity stents, CFD reproduced velocity reduction and high velocities close to the neck, while a marked mismatch on sluggish flow was found at the dome. CFD was unable to match PIV with intermediate porosity stents for which hemodynamic transition occurred.

Determination of a shear rate threshold for thrombus formation in intracranial aneurysms.

BACKGROUND: Particular intra-aneurysmal blood flow conditions, created naturally by the growth of an aneurysm or induced artificially by implantation of a flow diverter stent (FDS), can potentiate intra-aneurysmal thrombosis. The aim of this study was to identify hemodynamic indicators, relevant to this process, which could be used as a prediction of the success of a preventive endovascular treatment. METHOD: A cross sectional study on 21 patients was carried out to investigate the possible association between intra-aneurysmal spontaneous thrombus volume and the dome to neck aspect ratio (AR) of the aneurysm. The mechanistic link between these two parameters was further investigated through a Fourier analysis of the intra-aneurysmal shear rate (SR) obtained by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This analysis was first applied to 10 additional patients (4 with and 6 without spontaneous thrombosis) and later to 3 patients whose intracranial aneurysms only thrombosed after FDS implantation. RESULTS: The cross sectional study revealed an association between intra-aneurysmal spontaneous thrombus volume and the AR of the aneurysm (R(2)=0.67, p<0.001). Fourier analysis revealed that in cases where thrombosis occurred, the SR harmonics 0, 1, and 2 were always less than 25/s, 10/s, and 5/s, respectively, and always greater than these values where spontaneous thrombosis was not observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests the existence of an SR threshold below which thrombosis will occur. Therefore, by analyzing the SR on patient specific data with CFD techniques, it may be potentially possible to predict whether or the intra-aneurysmal flow conditions, after FDS implantation, will become prothrombotic.

Hemodynamic transition driven by stent porosity in sidewall aneurysms.

The healing process of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) treated with flow diverter stents (FDSs) depends on the IA flow modifications and on the epithelization process over the neck. In sidewall IA models with straight parent artery, two main hemodynamic regimes with different flow patterns and IA flow magnitude were broadly observed for unstented and high porosity stented IA on one side, and low porosity stented IA on the other side. The hemodynamic transition between these two regimes is potentially involved in thrombosis formation. In the present study, CFD simulations and multi-time lag (MTL) particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) measurements were combined to investigate the physical nature of this transition. Measurable velocity fields and non-measurable shear stress and pressure fields were assessed experimentally and numerically in the aneurysm volume in the presence of stents with various porosities. The two main regimes observed in both PIV and CFD showed typical flow features of shear and pressure driven regimes. In particular, the waveform of the averaged IA velocities was matching both the shear stress waveform at IA neck or the pressure gradient waveform in parent artery. Moreover, the transition between the two regimes was controlled by stent porosity: a decrease of stent porosity leads to an increase (decrease) of pressure differential (shear stress) through IA neck. Finally, a good PIV-CFD agreement was found except in transitional regimes and low motion eddies due to small mismatch of PIV-CFD running conditions.

Assessment of intra-aneurysmal flow modification after flow diverter stent placement with four-dimensional flow MRI: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Flow diverter stents (FDS) have been effectively used for the endovascular treatment of sidewall intracranial aneurysms (IAs). Unlike standard endovascular treatments used to exclude directly the aneurysm bulge from the parent vessel, FDS induce reduction in the intra-aneurysmal flow and promote progressive and stable thrombosis therein. The advent of FDS has therefore increased the need for understanding of IA hemodynamics. METHODS: We proposed the use of the most recently evolved four-dimensional (4D) flow MRI technique to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively post-FDS flow modification in 10 patients. We report intra-aneurysmal velocity measurements and the influence of metal artifacts induced by the stent. RESULTS: An index was defined to quantitatively measure flow changes-namely, the proportional velocity reduction ratio (PVRR)-with ranges from 34.6% to 71.1%. Furthermore, we could compare streamlines characterizing the post-stent flow patterns in five patients in whom the intra-aneurysmal velocity was beyond the visualization threshold of 7.69 cm/s. CONCLUSIONS: Despite metal artifacts and the low velocities involved, 4D flow MRI could be of interest to measure qualitatively and quantitatively flow changes in stented aneurysms. However, further enhancements are required together with further validation work before it can be considered for clinical use.

Particle imaging velocimetry evaluation of intracranial stents in sidewall aneurysm: hemodynamic transition related to the stent design.

We investigated the flow modifications induced by a large panel of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) intracranial stents in an idealized sidewall intracranial aneurysm (IA). Flow velocities in IA silicone model were assessed with and without stent implantation using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV). The use of the recently developed multi-time-lag method has allowed for uniform and precise measurements of both high and low velocities at IA neck and dome, respectively. Flow modification analysis of both regular (RSs) and flow diverter stents (FDSs) was subsequently correlated with relevant geometrical stent parameters. Flow reduction was found to be highly sensitive to stent porosity variations for regular stents RSs and moderately sensitive for FDSs. Consequently, two distinct IA flow change trends, with velocity reductions up to 50% and 90%, were identified for high-porosity RS and low-porosity FDS, respectively. The intermediate porosity (88%) regular braided stent provided the limit at which the transition in flow change trend occurred with a flow reduction of 84%. This transition occurred with decreasing stent porosity, as the driving force in IA neck changed from shear stress to differential pressure. Therefore, these results suggest that stents with intermediate porosities could possibly provide similar flow change patterns to FDS, favourable to curative thrombogenesis in IAs.

Wall shear stress distribution of small aneurysms prone to rupture: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Subarachnoid hemorrhage after intracranial aneurysm rupture remains a serious condition. We performed a case-control study to evaluate the use of computed hemodynamics to detect cerebral aneurysms prone to rupture. METHODS: Four patients with incidental aneurysms that ultimately ruptured (cases) were studied after initially being included in a prospective database including their 3-dimensional imaging before rupture. Ruptures were located in different arterial segments: M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery; basilar tip; posterior inferior cerebellar artery; and anterior communicating artery. For each case, 5 controls matched by location and size were randomly selected. An empirical cumulative distribution function of aneurysm wall shear stress percentiles was evaluated for every case and used to define a critical prone-to-rupture range. Univariate logistic regression analysis was then used to assess the individual risk of rupture. RESULTS: A cumulative wall shear stress distribution characterizing a hemodynamic prone-to-rupture range for small-sized aneurysms was identified and fitted independent of the location. Sensitivity and specificity of the preliminary tests were 90% and 93%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The wall shear stress cumulative probability function may be a potential predictor of small-sized aneurysm rupture.

Biology and hemodynamics of aneurismal vasculopathies.

Aneurysm vasculopathies represents a group of vascular disorders that share a common morphological diagnosis: a vascular dilation, the aneurysm. They can have a same etiology and a different clinical presentation or morphology, or have different etiology and very similar anatomical geometry. The biology of the aneurysm formation is a complex process that will be a result of an endogenous predisposition and epigenetic factors later on including the intracranial hemodynamics. We describe the biology of saccular aneurysms, its growth and rupture, as well as, current concepts of hemodynamics derived from application of computational flow dynamics on patient specific vascular models. Furthermore, we describe different aneurysm phenotypes and its extremely variability on morphological and etiological presentation.

Quantification of arterial flow using digital subtraction angiography.

PURPOSE: In this paper, a method for the estimation of arterial hemodynamic flow from x-ray video densitometry data is proposed and validated using an in vitro setup. METHODS: The method is based on the acquisition of three-dimensional rotational angiography and digital subtraction angiography sequences. A modest contrast injection rate (between 1 and 4 ml/s) leads to a contrast density that is modulated by the cardiac cycle, which can be measured in the x-ray signal. An optical flow based approach is used to estimate the blood flow velocities from the cyclic phases in the x-ray signal. RESULTS: The authors have validated this method in vitro, and present three clinical cases. The in vitro experiments compared the x-ray video densitometry results with the gold standard delivered by a flow meter. Linear correlation analysis and regression fitting showed that the ideal slope of 1 and intercept of 0 were contained within the 95 percentile confidence interval. The results show that a frame rate higher than 50 Hz allows measuring flows in the range of 2 ml/s to 6 ml/s within an accuracy of 5%. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro and clinical results indicate that it is feasible to estimate blood flow in routine interventional procedures. The availability of an x-ray based method for quantitative flow estimation is particularly clinically useful for intra-cranial applications, where other methods, such as ultrasound Doppler, are not available.

Combined use of pulsed arterial spin-labeling and susceptibility-weighted imaging in stroke at 3T.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In acute stroke it is no longer sufficient to detect simply ischemia, but also to try to evaluate reperfusion/recanalization status and predict eventual hemorrhagic transformation. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion may have advantages over contrast-enhanced perfusion-weighted imaging (cePWI), and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) has an intrinsic sensitivity to paramagnetic effects in addition to its ability to detect small areas of bleeding and hemorrhage. We want to determine here if their combined use in acute stroke and stroke follow-up at 3T could bring new insight into the diagnosis and prognosis of stroke leading to eventual improved patient management. METHODS: We prospectively examined 41 patients admitted for acute stroke (NIHSS >1). Early imaging was performed between 1 h and 2 weeks. The imaging protocol included ASL, cePWI, SWI, T2 and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), in addition to standard stroke protocol. RESULTS: We saw four kinds of imaging patterns based on ASL and SWI: patients with either hypoperfusion and hyperperfusion on ASL with or without changes on SWI. Hyperperfusion was observed on ASL in 12/41 cases, with hyperperfusion status that was not evident on conventional cePWI images. Signs of hemorrhage or blood-brain barrier breakdown were visible on SWI in 15/41 cases, not always resulting in poor outcome (2/15 were scored mRS = 0-6). Early SWI changes, together with hypoperfusion, were associated with the occurrence of hemorrhage. Hyperperfusion on ASL, even when associated with hemorrhage detected on SWI, resulted in good outcome. Hyperperfusion predicted a better outcome than hypoperfusion (p = 0.0148). CONCLUSIONS: ASL is able to detect acute-stage hyperperfusion corresponding to luxury perfusion previously reported by PET studies. The presence of hyperperfusion on ASL-type perfusion seems indicative of reperfusion/collateral flow that is protective of hemorrhagic transformation and a marker of favorable tissue outcome. The combination of hypoperfusion and changes on SWI seems on the other hand to predict hemorrhage and/or poor outcome.

Lattice-gas cellular automaton models for biology: from fluids to cells.

Lattice-gas cellular automaton (LGCA) and lattice Boltzmann (LB) models are promising models for studying emergent behaviour of transport and interaction processes in biological systems. In this chapter, we will emphasise the use of LGCA/LB models and the derivation and analysis of LGCA models ranging from the classical example dynamics of fluid flow to clotting phenomena in cerebral aneurysms and the invasion of tumour cells.

Treatment of renal artery aneurysm with the multilayer stent.

PURPOSE: To describe a new type of stent consisting of a 3-dimensional (3D) braided tube made of 2 interconnected layers without any covering to treat a renal artery aneurysm. CASE REPORT: A 78-year-old hypertensive man with multiple comorbidities was incidentally found to have a large (28- x 30 mm) saccular aneurysm in the main right renal artery involving the inferior renal artery. Via a percutaneous femoral approach, a 6- x 30-mm Multilayer stent was deployed easily in front of the aneurysm neck covering the inferior renal artery. Blood flow inside the sac was immediately and significantly reduced. All the renal artery branches remained patent. Blood pressure returned to normal after the procedure. At 6 months, angiography showed complete shrinkage of the aneurysm wall; all the inferior renal artery branches remained patent. CONCLUSION: The 3D multilayer fluid modulating stent concept appears to be a viable alternative for renal aneurysm exclusion. A larger study is underway to evaluate this new stent in other peripheral aneurysms.