Growth and Remodelling of Intracranial Saccular Aneurysms

A. Di Carlo[1], V. Sansalone[2], A. Tatone[3], and V. Varano[1]
[1]Modelling and Simulation Lab, Università Roma Tre, Roma, Italy
[2]Laboratoire de Mécanique Physique, Université Paris Est, Paris, France
[3]DISAT, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
Published in 2009

We present a mechanical model a growing spherical shell suitable for predicting the evolution of a Saccular Cerebral Artery Aneurysms (SCAA). It relies basically on the Kröner-Lee decomposition, used to describe the interplay between the current and the relaxed configuration of body elements. Rupture or stabilization of a SCAA are the end effect of a number of biological mechanisms, still poorly understood. We propose a model based on three competing remodeling mechanisms - one passive and two active. Despite drastic simplifying assumptions, preliminary numerical experiments attest to the potential of our model to account for nontrivial evolutions ensuing from accidental perturbations of a homeostatic state.

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