Cerebral blood flow in a healthy Circle of Willis and two intracranial aneurysms: computational fluid dynamics versus four-dimensional phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) opens up multiple opportunities to investigate the hemodynamics of the human vascular system. However, due to numerous assumptions the acceptance of CFD among physicians is still limited in practice and validation through comparison is mandatory. Time-dependent quantitative phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging PC-MRI measurements in a healthy volunteer and two intracranial aneurysms were carried out at 3 and 7 Tesla. Based on the acquired images, three-dimensional (3D) models of the aneurysms were reconstructed and used for the numerical simulations. Flow information from the MR measurements were applied as boundary conditions. The four-dimensional (4D) velocity fields obtained by CFD and MRI were qualitatively as well as quantitatively compared including cut planes and vector analyses. For all cases a high similarity of the velocity patterns was observed. Additionally, the quantitative analysis revealed a good agreement between CFD and MRI. Deviations were caused by minor differences between the reconstructed vessel models and the actual lumen. The comparisons between diastole and systole indicate that relative differences between MRI and CFD are intensified with increasing velocity. The findings of this study lead to the conclusion that CFD and MRI agree well in predicting intracranial velocities when realistic geometries and boundary conditions are provided. Due to the considerably higher temporal and spatial resolution of CFD compared to MRI, complex flow patterns can be further investigated in order to evaluate their role with respect to aneurysm formation or rupture. Nevertheless, special care is required regarding the vessel reconstruction since the geometry has a major impact on the subsequent numerical results.