State-of-the-Art Computational Models of Circle of Willis With Physiological Applications: A Review

Haipeng Liu,Dingchang Zheng,Xinyi Leng,Thomas Wai Hong Leung,Lin Shi,Lawrence Ka Sing Wong,Defeng Wang,Fei Chen

doi:10.1109/access.2020.3007737

Abstract

Background: Various computational models of the circle of Willis (CoW) have been developed to non-invasively estimate the blood flow and hemodynamic parameters in intracranial arteries for the assessment of clinical risks such as aneurysms, ischemia, and atherosclerotic plaque growth. This review aims to categorize the latest computational models of CoW and summarize the innovative techniques. Summary of Review: In traditional computational models of CoW, the computational complexity increased from zero-dimensional models to one-dimensional and three-dimensional models. The applications extend from estimating certain hemodynamic parameters to simulating local flow field. The innovative techniques include the combination of models with different dimensions, the extension of vascular structure including heart and veins, as well as the addition of distal fractality, cerebral autoregulation, and intracranial pressure. There are some nontraditional models based on fluid-solid-interaction, control theory, and in-vitro experiments. In all kinds of models, the in-vivo data and non-Newtonian rheological models of blood have been widely applied to improve the accuracy of hemodynamic simulation. Conclusion: Firstly, the selection of model depends on its application scenario. The balance between computational complexity and physiological accuracy deserves further investigation. Secondly, the improvement of CoW models relies on the large-scale validations and the combination of various innovative modeling techniques.

Highlights

The intracranial arterial stenosis (ICAS) could cause serious clinical events such as ischemic stroke
To comprehensively understand and categorize the state-of-the-art techniques applied in the modeling of circle of Willis (CoW), and to summarize the technical innovations, we reviewed the related literature on simulation and modeling of CoW in recent 6 years
The results indicated that both the elasticity of arterial wall and the intracranial pressure (ICP) contributed to the Windkessel effects in intracranial arteries

Summary

Introduction

The intracranial arterial stenosis (ICAS) could cause serious clinical events such as ischemic stroke. The circle of Willis (CoW) forms an interconnected structure of intracranial arteries and provides alternative routes. The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and approving it for publication was Xiaogang Jin. of blood flow in case of ICAS, protecting the brain from ischemia [2]. Various models have been proposed to computationally investigate the blood flow in CoW. Various computational models of the circle of Willis (CoW) have been developed to non-invasively estimate the blood flow and hemodynamic parameters in intracranial arteries for the assessment of clinical risks such as aneurysms, ischemia, and atherosclerotic plaque growth. This review aims to categorize the latest computational models of CoW and summarize the innovative techniques. In all kinds of models, the in-vivo data and non-Newtonian rheological models of blood have been widely applied to improve the accuracy of hemodynamic simulation. The improvement of CoW models relies on the large-scale validations and the combination of various innovative modeling techniques

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Conclusion