CFD Simulations of Radioembolization: A Proof-of-Concept Study on the Impact of the Hepatic Artery Tree Truncation

Mathematics

Julio Ortega¹  Macarena Rodríguez-Fraile²  JoséIgnacio Bilbao²  Bruno Sangro²  Unai Lertxundi³  Jorge Aramburu³  Raúl Antón³ 

[1] Escuela de Ingeniería Mecánica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Quilpué 01567, Chile;IdiSNA, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain;Mechanical Engineering Department, TECNUN Escuela de Ingeniería, Universidad de Navarra, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain;

关键词: computational fluid dynamics;    radioembolization;    hemodynamics;    liver cancer;    hepatic artery;    computational cost analysis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/math9080839

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Radioembolization (RE) is a treatment for patients with liver cancer, one of the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. RE consists of the transcatheter intraarterial infusion of radioactive microspheres, which are injected at the hepatic artery level and are transported in the bloodstream, aiming to target tumors and spare healthy liver parenchyma. In paving the way towards a computer platform that allows for a treatment planning based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, the current simulation (model preprocess, model solving, model postprocess) times (of the order of days) make the CFD-based assessment non-viable. One of the approaches to reduce the simulation time includes the reduction in size of the simulated truncated hepatic artery. In this study, we analyze for three patient-specific hepatic arteries the impact of reducing the geometry of the hepatic artery on the simulation time. Results show that geometries can be efficiently shortened without impacting greatly on the microsphere distribution.

【 授权许可】

Unknown