Medical Imaging Compatibility of Magnesium- and Iron-Based Bioresorbable Flow Diverters.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Bioresorbable flow diverters are under development to mitigate complications associated with conventional flow-diverter technology. One proposed advantage is the ability to reduce metal-induced artifacts in follow-up medical imaging. In the current work, the medical imaging compatibility of magnesium- and iron-based bioresorbable flow diverters is assessed relative to an FDA-approved control in phantom models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bioresorbable flow diverters, primarily composed of braided magnesium or antiferromagnetic iron alloy wires, were compared with an FDA-approved control flow diverter. The devices were assessed for MR imaging safety in terms of magnetically induced force and radiofrequency heating using 1.5T, 3T, and 7T field strength clinical scanners. The devices were deployed in phantom models, and metal-induced image artifacts were assessed in the 3 MR imaging scanners and a clinical CT scanner following clinical scan protocols; device visibility was assessed under fluoroscopy. RESULTS: The magnesium-based bioresorbable flow diverter, iron-based bioresorbable flow diverter, and the control device all demonstrated MR imaging safety in terms of magnetically induced force and radiofrequency heating at all 3 field strengths. The bioresorbable flow diverters did not elicit excessive MR imaging artifacts at any field strength relative to the control. Furthermore, the bioresorbable flow diverters appeared to reduce blooming artifacts in CT relative to the control. The iron-based bioresorbable flow diverter and control device were visible under standard fluoroscopy. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated the baseline medical imaging compatibility of magnesium and antiferromagnetic iron alloy bioresorbable flow diverters. Future work will evaluate the medical imaging characteristics of the bioresorbable flow diverters in large-animal models.

Waveguide effects and implications for cardiac magnetic resonance elastography: A finite element study.

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is increasingly being applied to thin or small structures in which wave propagation is dominated by waveguide effects, which can substantially bias stiffness results with common processing approaches. The purpose of this work was to investigate the importance of such biases and artifacts on MRE inversion results in: (i) various idealized 2D and 3D geometries with one or more dimensions that are small relative to the shear wavelength; and (ii) a realistic cardiac geometry. Finite element models were created using simple 2D geometries as well as a simplified and a realistic 3D cardiac geometry, and simulated displacements acquired by MRE from harmonic excitations from 60 to 220 Hz across a range of frequencies. The displacement wave fields were inverted with direct inversion of the Helmholtz equation with and without the application of bandpass filtering and/or the curl operator to the displacement field. In all geometries considered, and at all frequencies considered, strong biases and artifacts were present in inversion results when the curl operator was not applied. Bandpass filtering without the curl was not sufficient to yield accurate recovery. In the 3D geometries, strong biases and artifacts were present in 2D inversions even when the curl was applied, while only 3D inversions with application of the curl yielded accurate recovery of the complex shear modulus. These results establish that taking the curl of the wave field and performing a full 3D inversion are both necessary steps for accurate estimation of the shear modulus both in simple thin-walled or small structures and in a realistic cardiac geometry when using simple inversions that neglect the hydrostatic pressure term. In practice, sufficient wave amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio, and resolution will be required to achieve accurate results.

Hemodynamic changes in a middle cerebral artery aneurysm at follow-up times before and after its rupture: a case report and a review of the literature.

Hemodynamic parameters play a significant role in the development of cerebral aneurysms. Parameters such as wall shear stress (WSS) or velocity could change in time and may contribute to aneurysm growth and rupture. However, the hemodynamic changes at the rupture location remain unclear because it is difficult to obtain data prior to rupture. We analyzed a case of a ruptured middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysm for which we acquired imaging data at three time points, including at rupture. A patient with an observed MCA aneurysm was admitted to the emergency department with clinical symptoms of a subarachnoid hemorrhage. During three-dimensional (3D) digital subtraction angiography (DSA), the aneurysm ruptured again. Imaging data from two visits before rupture and this 3D DSA images at the moment of rupture were acquired, and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were performed. Results were used to describe the time-dependent changes of the hemodynamic variables associated with rupture. Time-dependent hemodynamic changes at the rupture location were characterized by decreased WSS and flow velocity magnitude. The impingement jet in the dome changed its position in time and the impingement area at follow-up moved near the rupture location. The results suggest that the increased WSS on the dome and increased low wall shear stress area (LSA) and decreased WSS on the daughter bleb with slower flow and slow vortex may be associated with rupture. CFD performed during the follow-up period may be part of diagnostic tools used to determine the risk of aneurysm rupture.

Artery length sensitivity in patient-specific cerebral aneurysm simulations.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The reconstruction of aneurysm geometry is a main factor affecting the accuracy of hemodynamics simulations in patient-specific aneurysms. We analyzed the effects of the inlet artery length on intra-aneurysmal flow estimations by using 10 ophthalmic aneurysm models. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We successively truncated the inlet artery of each model, first at the cavernous segment and second at the clinoid segment. For each aneurysm, we obtained 3 models with different artery lengths: the originally segmented geometry with the longest available inlet from scans and 2 others with successively shorter artery lengths. We analyzed the velocity, wall shear stress, and the oscillatory shear index inside the aneurysm and compared the 2 truncations with the original model. RESULTS: We found that eliminating 1 arterial turn resulted in root mean square errors of <18% with no visual differences for the contours of the flow parameters in 8 of the 10 models. In contrast, truncating at the second turn led to root mean square errors between 18% and 32%, with consistently large errors for wall shear stress and the oscillatory shear index in 5 of the 10 models and visual differences for the contours of the flow parameters. For 3 other models, the largest errors were between 43% and 55%, with large visual differences in the contour plots. CONCLUSIONS: Excluding 2 arterial turns from the inlet artery length of the ophthalmic aneurysm resulted in large quantitative differences in the calculated velocity, wall shear stress, and oscillatory shear index distributions, which could lead to erroneous conclusions if used clinically.