Study of Embolic Particle Migration in Cerebral Arteries by Computational Modelling

As known, embolism is one of the major causes of stroke, which represents the rapid loss of brain functions. Two major sources of emboli which may cause ischemic attack were emboli formed in heart and from a ruptured arterial plaque in carotid arties. Due to the different characteristics of emboli formed from different mechanisms, the migration route of specific emboli in cerebral arteries may be different, so does the territory of the ischemic attack caused by them. Therefore, a good understanding of emboli migration in the complex cerebral arterial network may provide a good guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke. Studies on the emboli motion in cerebral arteries so far were based on phantom models [1]. Although CFD simulation has been used on prediction of cerebral blood perfusion for many years, CFD particle tracking technique is rarely applied on study emboli migration in cerebral arteries. The present study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using CFD particle tracking on emboli migration study with emphasis on the discussions of the particle tracking result by different coupling algorithms between blood flow and embolic particles.