flow analysis of cerebrospinal fluid inside catheters used for hydrocephalus patients according to brain mri image by means of cfd

(1) the treatment of hydrocephalus is the use of cerebrospinal shunts. these shunts are made up of different parts. one of the most important parts of these shunts is their catheter, which is placed inside the ventricle of the brain in order to drain cerebrospinal fluid. one of the most important problems of ventricular catheters is their clogging, which causes shunt replacement in 50-80% cases. although many factors affect this congestion, one of the most important of them is the flow inside the ventricles of the brain with hydrocephalus; (2) methods: the works of many researchers have mentioned the problem of flow inside the catheters, for this purpose two-dimensional simulation has been used. in this research, the two-dimensional image obtained through mri has been used in the simulation in order to influence the real shape of the ventricles of the brain in the occlusion of the ventricular catheters; (3) results: according to the investigations, the cause of clogging of most common catheters is the problem in the morphology and the way their holes are located; (4) conclusions: a new design of catheters by changing the diameter and slope of the holes has been presented. it was found that conventional catheters are very susceptible to being closed by dead cells or cerebral ventricular tissue. four types of catheters were examined, types 3 and 4 showed better performance with 50% and types 5 and 6 with 100% reduction in the probability of catheter hole closure.