Numerical Simulation Of Cerebrospinal Fluid Based On Reverse Engineering

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation is a vital natural phenomenon of body fluid circulation. All the ventricles and subarachnoid space are filled of CSF. But, as limited by traditional detection methods, the flow of CSF cannot be fully observed. In this paper, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid is investigated by using reverse engineering and finite element analysis.Medical image information of human head is obtained with CT scan technology.In order to build the CSF model quickly and accurately, we discuss the characteristic of different methods of image segmentations. The CSF model built with MIMICS can clearly show the real construction of ventricular system and subarachnoid space.The CSF model is rebuilt and repaired with Geomagic Studio software and meshed in HyperMesh software. Computational fluid dynamics simulations are performed using AN SYS CFX14.0so as to study the CSF flow status.The analysis results show that CSF dynamic parameters such as streamline in ventricular system and subarachnoid space, velocity change in acardiaccircle are extracted and analyzed.Distribution and changes of streamlines, velocity vector are obtained and compared with the MRI measurements to verify the accuracy of the model. The maximum error is6.15%compared with the measurements using MRI technology.Through this study, a whole numerical model of CSF is established. The model can be used in further research.