Towards interactive planning of coil embolization in brain aneurysms

Area of Science:

• Interventional Radiology
• Medical Simulation
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Minimally invasive treatments for vascular pathologies, like intracranial aneurysms, are advancing.
• Coil embolization is a key technique for treating aneurysms, requiring precision due to anatomical constraints.
• Current planning and rehearsal methods lack patient-specific, interactive simulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an original method for interactive coil embolization simulations.
• To create a patient-specific simulation tool for interventional neuroradiologists.
• To introduce a clinical metric for quantifying initial coil filling in aneurysms.

Main Methods:

• Developed an accurate aneurysm anatomy reconstruction method.
• Implemented a real-time coil model incorporating sliding and friction contacts.
• Validated simulation results against actual embolization procedures.

Main Results:

• The simulation accurately reconstructs patient-specific aneurysm anatomy.
• The real-time coil model effectively simulates coil deployment with contact physics.
• Simulation outcomes demonstrated good adequacy when compared to real-world procedures.

Conclusions:

• Interactive, patient-specific simulations can significantly aid in planning and rehearsing coil embolization.
• The proposed method and metric offer a valuable tool for improving procedural outcomes in neurointerventional radiology.
• This simulation technology has the potential to enhance training and patient care for intracranial aneurysms.