CFD Simulations of Radioembolization: A Proof-of-Concept Study on the Impact of the Hepatic Artery Tree Truncation

Abstract

Radioembolization (RE) is a treatment for patients with liver cancer, one of the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. RE consists of the transcatheter intraarterial infusion of radioactive microspheres, which are injected at the hepatic artery level and are transported in the bloodstream, aiming to target tumors and spare healthy liver parenchyma. In paving the way towards a computer platform that allows for a treatment planning based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, the current simulation (model preprocess, model solving, model postprocess) times (of the order of days) make the CFD-based assessment non-viable. One of the approaches to reduce the simulation time includes the reduction in size of the simulated truncated hepatic artery. In this study, we analyze for three patient-specific hepatic arteries the impact of reducing the geometry of the hepatic artery on the simulation time. Results show that geometries can be efficiently shortened without impacting greatly on the microsphere distribution.

The Impact of Injection Distance to Bifurcations on Yttrium-90 Distribution in Liver Cancer Radioembolization

“…The computational domain (Fig 2e) was limited to the trunk of the RHA with 1 inlet and 6 outlets (O1-O6) to reduce the computation time to an affordable level. This reduction has previously shown minimal effects on CFD simulation results (ie, distal 90 Y distribution estimation) (16).…”

Gibeleko erradioenbolizazioaren CFD simulazioak: odolaren biskositatearen eragina gibeleko hemodinamikan eta mikroesferen banaketan

“…Sinplifikazio horrek ez du errore handirik gehitzen, eta kalkulu-denbora izugarri gutxitzen du [2]. Bestalde, Lertxundi et al-ek geometrian egindako sinplifikazioak aztertu dituzte, eta hala emaitzen zehaztasuna mantendu eta kalkulu-denbora % 60 inguru gutxitu [3].…”

“…Segmentu bakoitzaren bolumenak ere MeVis softwarearen bidez lortu dira. Arteria-sare osoa erabili beharrean, Lertxundi et al lanean adierazitakoaren baitan moztuko dira geometriak [3]. ondorengo irudian (ikus 2. irudia), erabilitako hiru pazienteen arteria hepatiko sareak ikus daitezke.…”

“…Bestalde, lan ugari geratzen da oraindik. Bide ezberdinak daude helburua lortu ahal izateko: geometrian eginiko sinplifikazioak [3], kalkulu matematikoen sinplifikazioa (artikulu hau bera), 3D-tik 1D / 0D-ko ereduetara sinplifikatzea, eta abar. Dena den, sinplifikazio bakoitzak zehaztasuna mantentzen duela ziurtatu beharra dago; adibidez, simulazioen emaitzak benetako pazienteen emaitzekin alderaturik, errealitatea irudikatzen duen erreminta garatzen dela egiaztatzeko.…”

A Hybrid Particle-Flow CFD Modeling Approach in Truncated Hepatic Arterial Trees for Liver Radioembolization: A Patient-specific Case Study

“…To define how the hepatic arterial geometry may be truncated, a tumor-based pruning algorithm is developed and evaluated for a patient-specific case. Previously, Lertxundi et al (2021) introduced a segment-based pruning algorithm to simplify patient-specific arterial geometries, comparing truncated versions of 3 patient-specific geometries (with 1 catheter tip location for 2 geometries and 2 catheter tip locations for the other geometry). However, the alternative pruning algorithm presented here goes beyond the state-of-the-art by using a novel tumor region growing model.…”