Model-based estimation of ventricular deformation in the cat brain.

The estimation of ventricular deformation has important clinical implications related to neuro-structural disorders such as hydrocephalus. In this paper, a poroelastic model was used to represent deformation effects resulting from the ventricular system and was studied in 5 feline experiments. Chronic or acute hydrocephalus was induced by injection of kaolin into the cisterna magna or saline into the ventricles; a catheter was then inserted in the lateral ventricle to drain the fluid out of the brain. The measured displacement data which was extracted from pre-drainage and post-drainage MR images were incorporated into the model through the Adjoint Equations Method. The results indicate that the computational model of the brain and ventricular system captured 33% of the ventricle deformation on average and the model-predicted intraventricular pressure was accurate to 90% of the recorded value during the chronic hydrocephalus experiments.