A mechatronic valve in the management of hydrocephalus: methods and performance

The problem of excess cerebrospinal fluid in the brain (hydrocephalus) is generally managed using a passive pressure or flow regulated mechanical shunt. Despite the success of such devices, they have been plagued with a number of problems. It is desirable to have a shunt valve that responds dynamically to the changing needs of the patient, opening and closing according to a dynamic physiological pattern, rather than simply to the hydrostatic pressure across the valve. Such a valve would by necessity be mechatronic, electronically controlled by software. In this article, different methods for controlling such a mechatronic valve are explored, and the effect of current hydrocephalus management techniques on the intracranial hydrodynamics of acute hydrocephalus patient compared with those based on a mechatronic valve was investigated using numerical simulation. Furthermore, the performance of these techniques was evaluated based on a proposed multi-dimensional figure of merit. In addition, an empirical valve schedule was proposed based on different criterions. An intelligent shunting system is seen as the future in hydrocephalus management and treatment, and towards this end, suitably programmed mechatronic valves would attempt to mimic normal physiology and potentially overcome many of the problems associated with current mechanical valves.