Aurelien F.
Stalder1,2, Zhenyu Liu3, Ramona Lorenz2,
Juergen Hennig2,4, Jan Gerrit Korvink, 4,5, Michael
Markl2
1Dept. of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital,
Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; 2Dept. of Diagnostic
Radiology - Medical Physics, University Hospital, Freiburg, Germany; 3Changchun
Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of
Science, Changchun, China; 4Freiburg Institute for Advanced
Studies (FRIAS), Freiburg, Germany; 5Dept. of Microsystems
Engineering, University of Freiburg, Germany
Both
flow-sensitive 4D MRI and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have
successfully been applied to analyze complex 3D flow. However, both
modalities suffer from limitations related to measurements (MRI) or model
assumptions (CFD). In this study, we compared both modalities in a model in
vitro and in the complex 3D blood flow of the thoracic aorta in vivo.
Although discrepancies were observed, overall coherent patterns were observed.
The further potential of the method is illustrated by calculating detailed
Wall Shear Stress maps using very fine boundary layer mesh. The combination
of 4D flow-sensitive MRI and CFD may be used to enhance the assessment of
blood flow in vivo.