Towards a patient-specific hepatic arterial modeling for microspheres distribution optimization in SIRT protocol

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Oncology

Background:

• Selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) is an emerging liver cancer treatment using Yttrium-90 microspheres.
• Personalized dosimetry is crucial for maximizing tumor dose and sparing healthy liver tissue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a patient-specific computational model for simulating hepatic arterial blood flow and Yttrium-90 microsphere distribution.
• To enable personalized numerical prediction of microsphere delivery for optimizing SIRT catheter placement.

Main Methods:

• Semi-automatic segmentation of hepatic arteries (down to 0.5 mm) from 3D cone-beam CT angiography.
• Extraction of liver and tumors using active surface methods on CT scans.
• Initialization of a numerical model simulating the liver vascular network based on segmented data and applying Poiseuille's law and conservation principles.

Main Results:

• Coherent reconstruction of the entire hepatic arterial tree down to 0.05 mm vessel diameter.
• Quantification of microsphere distribution based on injection site under simplified assumptions.
• Demonstration of the model's capability for patient-specific simulation.

Conclusions:

• The developed computational model allows for patient-specific simulation of microsphere distribution in the liver arterial tree.
• This approach facilitates personalized numerical approximations for optimizing catheter placement in selective internal radiation therapy.
• The model holds potential for enhancing the clinical efficacy and safety of SIRT for liver cancer treatment.