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Direct numerical simulation of transitional hydrodynamics of the cerebrospinal fluid in Chiari I malformation: The role of cranio‐vertebral junction
Author(s) -
Jain Kartik,
Ringstad Geir,
Eide PerKristian,
Mardal KentAndré
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.741
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 2040-7947
pISSN - 2040-7939
DOI - 10.1002/cnm.2853
Subject(s) - cerebrospinal fluid , laminar flow , chiari malformation , turbulence , mechanics , outflow , fluid dynamics , subarachnoid space , anatomy , physics , medicine , radiology , pathology , syringomyelia , magnetic resonance imaging , meteorology
Abstract Obstruction to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) outflow caused by the herniation of cerebellar tonsils as a result of Chiari malformation type I leads to altered CSF hydrodynamics. This contribution explores the minutest characteristics of the CSF hydrodynamics in cervical subarachnoid space (SAS) of a healthy subject and 2 Chiari patients by performing highly resolved direct numerical simulation. The lattice Boltzmann method is used for the simulations because of its scalability on modern supercomputers that allow us to simulate up to approximately 10 9 cells while resolving the Kolmogorov microscales. The results depict that whereas the complex CSF flow remains largely laminar in the SAS of a healthy subject, constriction of the cranio‐vertebral junction in Chiari I patients causes manifold fluctuations in the hydrodynamics of the CSF. These fluctuations resemble a flow that is in a transitional regime rather than laminar or fully developed turbulence. The fluctuations confine near the cranio‐vertebral junction and are triggered due to the tonsillar herniation, which perturbs the flow as a result of altered anatomy of the SAS.