Computational Model of Interstitial Transport in the Rat Brain Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging

In spite of the high therapeutic potential of macromolecular drugs, it has proven difficult to apply them to recovery after injury and treatment of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. One barrier to systemic administration is low capillary permeability, i.e., the blood-brain and blood-spinal cord barrier. To overcome this barrier, convection-enhanced delivery (CED) infuses agents directly into tissue to supplement diffusion and increase the distribution of large molecules in the brain [1,2]. Predictive models of distribution during CED would be useful in treatment optimization and planning. To account for large infusion volumes, such models should incorporate tissue boundaries and anisotropic tissue properties.