Cerebral aneurysms: relations between geometry, hemodynamics and aneurysm location in the cerebral vasculature

In the framework of the Aneurisk project, an extensive statistical\ninvestigation has been conducted on the geometrical and haemodynamics \nfeatures of the Internal Carotid Artery. The spatial pattern of the\nconsidered features of the vessel has been evaluated as the variation\nalong the vessel centerline. The association of certain spatial\npatterns of radius and curvature of the ICA and the presence and\nposition of an aneurysm in the cerebral vasculature has been\nassessed. Blood flow has been simulated in the patient-specific\nvascular geometries reconstructed in the context of the project, and the shear \nload exerted by the blood on the vascular wall has been evaluated. The\nrelation between the spatial pattern of the shear \nload along the Internal Carotid Artery and the presence and location\nof the aneurysm is discussed in this work. The final goal is to\nidentify a set of morphological and hemodynamics features associated\nto the pathology, defining a classification of the vascular geometries\nin terms of the likelihood of developing an aneurysm in a\ncertain location. In other words, we look for the typical features of\nthe Internal Carotid Artery of patients with a cerebral aneurysm. To\npossibly extend the classification technique from a purely explorative\nprocedure to a tool for predictive analysis, the association of the\nchosen haemodynamics and geometrical features with aneurysm rupture\nwill also be addressed.