Abstract
Coiling embolization in which platinum wires are inserted into the aneurysm through an artery is a common treatment in therapy of cerebral aneurysms. This procedure, however, may result in non-uniform and incomplete closure of the aneurysm, thereby reducing therapeutic effects. In this work, we propose to use a yield stress fluid material instead of platinum wires to close the aneurysm. This material behaves like solid when the applied shear stresses are less than the critical yield stress but it starts to flow when the shear stresses are larger than this critical value. Our objective is to investigate the viability of this approach using computational fluid dynamics. The giant aneurysm geometry used in our simulation was modeled from deceased patient’s CT images. The velocity and shear stress fields in the blood circulation surrounding the aneurysm were computed before and after embolization with a yield stress fluid using the incompressible and time-steady computational fluid dynamics solver. Our simulation results indicate that the shear stress distribution along the aneurysm surface becomes more uniform after filling it with the yield stress fluid. This reduces the risk of aneurysm rupture. We also determine the minimum yield stress at which the embolizing material will not leak out of the aneurysm. Overall, our analysis shows that yield stress fluids can be potentially used for treatment of cerebral aneurysms.