Mason researchers examine computational biology approach to flow diversion

Juan Cebral, George Mason University Professor of Bioengineering, and his collaborators are constructing computational fluid dynamics models of cerebral aneurysms to compare the effects of flow diverters and assess the hemodynamic differences between immediate occlusions and long-term patency.

To do so, they are using 3-D rotational angiography images and data on the effects of flow-diverting devices.

They will include both flow-diverting stents as well as intra-saccular devices in their simulations.

Cebral and his collaborators are using previously developed methods based on unstructured grids, embedding and immersed techniques to model flow diverting devices with high-resolution adaptive meshes.

In addition, Cebral and his team are creating sophisticated models of the brain circulation and using them to investigate possible causes of hemorrhages observed after treatment of cerebral aneurysms with flow diverting stents. {module INSIDE STORY}

The researchers will conduct numerical simulations using software developed and validated over many years at Mason. They will run these simulations in parallel on their in-house supercomputing cluster.

Cebral received $115,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for this work. Funding began in September 2020 and will end in August 2021.