Harvard Researchers Develop Tool To Personalize Brain Shunt Implants

Millions of group worldwide suffer from hydrocephalus, aliases a buildup of excess cerebrospinal fluid successful nan brain, and which precocious received greater attraction when Billy Joel announced his diagnosis. Treatment usually involves surgical placement of shunts to divert fluid away, but this process often leads to complications, infections, and aggregate re-treatments.

Bioengineers successful the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a caller computational exemplary that combines encephalon anatomy, fluid flow, and biomolecular carrier dynamics to simulate shunt capacity pinch pinpoint accuracy. Their goal: thief pinch nan creation of civilization shunts that are tailored to circumstantial patients' anatomy and needs.

The activity was supported by national backing from nan National Science Foundation and published in Proceedings of nan National Academy of Sciences. It was led by SEAS postdoctoral chap Haritosh Patel, who useful successful nan labs of Joanna Aizenberg, nan Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science astatine SEAS and Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology; and Venkatesh Murthy, nan Raymond Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Paul J. Finnegan Family Director of nan Center for Brain Science.

Repeat surgeries owed to infection aliases obstruction

Tens of thousands of shunt procedures are performed annually successful nan U.S. - galore of which are repetition surgeries owed to nan inserted devices becoming blocked aliases obstructed, aliases nan diligent suffering an infection.

"Some aged patients told maine they had had complete 10 surgeries - 1 each 2 to 3 years," Patel said. "We really wanted to understand why this was happening, and we realized that galore of these obstructions and infections were tied to shunt designs that didn't afloat see fluid dynamics arsenic a basal portion of their geometry. We noticed that nan tubing geometry utilized successful shunts intimately resembles nan benignant of piping we trust connected successful family plumbing. While that simplicity has its advantages, we saw an opportunity to research much creative, biomimetic solutions that amended suit nan complexity of nan brain's environment."

Pursuing nan problem from some a worldly and creation perspective, nan squad quickly realized location was nary universally accepted fluid travel exemplary for nan encephalon ventricle abstraction to guideline them. "Okay, well, we can't trial our devices successful a model, truthful why don't we first make a amended model?" Patel said.

Computational instrumentality simulates fluid travel successful brain

The consequence is their computational tool, called BrainFlow, which combines elaborate anatomical and physiological features of nan encephalon to simulate nan travel of cerebrospinal fluid travel successful nan beingness of shunt implants.

 The exemplary incorporates patient-specific aesculapian imaging information on pinch pulse-induced travel to mimic a patient's cerebrospinal fluid dynamics, each to connection penetration into optimal shunt design, placement, and moreover prime of materials.

"We judge that our model, mixed pinch caller geometries and materials improvements specified arsenic anti-biofouling coatings developed successful my lab, could lead to smoother integration of optimized, patient-specific aesculapian devices into patients' brains, pinch little likelihood of complications, and a amended value of life," Aizenberg said.

The Harvard squad is presently conducting studies that usage nan exemplary to trial different designs of shunts and cipher their efficacy.

The squad was supported successful portion by nan Hydrocephalus Association, Hydrocephalus Canada, Hydrocephalus Society, Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation, and Society into Research for Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida. The NSF assistance was done nan Harvard University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center nether grant DMR-2011754.