4 results
An analytic model for the flow induced in syringomyelia cavities
- G.L. Nozaleda, J. Alaminos-Quesada, W. Coenen, V. Haughton, A.L. Sánchez
-
- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 978 / 10 January 2024
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 January 2024, A22
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Open access
- HTML
- Export citation
-
A simple two-dimensional fluid–structure interaction problem, involving viscous oscillatory flow in a channel separated by an elastic membrane from a fluid-filled slender cavity, is analysed to shed light on the flow dynamics pertaining to syringomyelia, a neurological disorder characterized by the appearance of a large tubular cavity (syrinx) within the spinal cord. The focus is on configurations in which the velocity induced in the cavity, representing the syrinx, is comparable to that found in the channel, representing the subarachnoid space surrounding the spinal cord, both flows being coupled through a linear elastic equation describing the membrane deformation. An asymptotic analysis for small stroke lengths leads to closed-form expressions for the leading-order oscillatory flow, and also for the stationary flow associated with the first-order corrections, the latter involving a steady distribution of transmembrane pressure. The magnitude of the induced flow is found to depend strongly on the frequency, with the result that for channel flow rates of non-sinusoidal waveform, as those found in the spinal canal, higher harmonics can dominate the sloshing motion in the cavity, in agreement with previous in vivo observations. Under some conditions, the cycle-averaged transmembrane pressure, also showing a marked dependence on the frequency, changes sign on increasing the cavity transverse dimension (i.e. orthogonal to the cord axis), underscoring the importance of cavity size in connection with the underlying hydrodynamics. The analytic results presented here can be instrumental in guiding future numerical investigations, needed to clarify the pathogenesis of syringomyelia cavities.
A one-dimensional model for the pulsating flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the spinal canal
- S. Sincomb, W. Coenen, C. Gutiérrez-Montes, C. Martínez Bazán, V. Haughton, A.L. Sánchez
-
- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 939 / 25 May 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 30 March 2022, A26
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Open access
- HTML
- Export citation
-
The monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) fluctuations, which is needed in the context of a number of neurological diseases, requires the insertion of pressure sensors, an invasive procedure with considerable risk factors. Intracranial pressure fluctuations drive the wave-like pulsatile motion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) along the compliant spinal canal. Systematically derived simplified models relating the ICP fluctuations with the resulting CSF flow rate can be useful in enabling indirect evaluations of the former from non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of the latter. As a preliminary step in enabling these predictive efforts, a model is developed here for the pulsating viscous motion of CSF in the spinal canal, assumed to be a linearly elastic compliant tube of slowly varying section, with a Darcy pressure-loss term included to model the fluid resistance introduced by the trabeculae, which are thin collagen-reinforced columns that form a web-like structure stretching across the spinal canal. Use of Fourier-series expansions enables predictions of CSF flow rate for realistic anharmonic ICP fluctuations. The flow rate predicted using a representative ICP waveform together with a realistic canal anatomy is seen to compare favourably with in vivo phase-contrast MRI measurements at multiple sections along the spinal canal. The results indicate that the proposed model, involving a limited number of parameters, can serve as a basis for future quantitative analyses targeting predictions of ICP temporal fluctuations based on MRI measurements of spinal-canal anatomy and CSF flow rate.
On the dispersion of a drug delivered intrathecally in the spinal canal
- J. J. Lawrence, W. Coenen, A. L. Sánchez, G. Pawlak, C. Martínez-Bazán, V. Haughton, J. C. Lasheras
-
- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 861 / 25 February 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 27 December 2018, pp. 679-720
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
This paper investigates the transport of a solute carried by the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the spinal canal. The analysis is motivated by the need for a better understanding of drug dispersion in connection with intrathecal drug delivery (ITDD), a medical procedure used for treatment of some cancers, infections and pain, involving the delivery of the drug to the central nervous system by direct injection into the CSF via the lumbar route. The description accounts for the CSF motion in the spinal canal, described in our recent publication (Sánchez et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 841, 2018, pp. 203–227). The Eulerian velocity field includes an oscillatory component with angular frequency $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}$, equal to that of the cardiac cycle, and associated tidal volumes that are a factor $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}\ll 1$ smaller than the total CSF volume in the spinal canal, with the small velocity corrections resulting from convective acceleration providing a steady-streaming component with characteristic residence times of order $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}^{-2}\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}^{-1}\gg \unicode[STIX]{x1D714}^{-1}$. An asymptotic analysis for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}\ll 1$ accounting for the two time scales $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}^{-1}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}^{-2}\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}^{-1}$ is used to investigate the prevailing drug-dispersion mechanisms and their dependence on the solute diffusivity, measured by the Schmidt number $S$. Convective transport driven by the time-averaged Lagrangian velocity, obtained as the sum of the Eulerian steady-streaming velocity and the Stokes-drift velocity associated with the non-uniform pulsating flow, is found to be important for all values of $S$. By way of contrast, shear-enhanced Taylor dispersion, which is important for values of $S$ of order unity, is shown to be negligibly small for the large values $S\sim \unicode[STIX]{x1D700}^{-2}\gg 1$ corresponding to the molecular diffusivities of all ITDD drugs. Results for a model geometry indicate that a simplified equation derived in the intermediate limit $1\ll S\ll \unicode[STIX]{x1D700}^{-2}$ provides sufficient accuracy under most conditions, and therefore could constitute an attractive reduced model for future quantitative analyses of drug dispersion in the spinal canal. The results can be used to quantify dependences of the drug-dispersion rate on the frequency and amplitude of the pulsation of the intracranial pressure, the compliance and specific geometry of the spinal canal and the molecular diffusivity of the drug.
On the bulk motion of the cerebrospinal fluid in the spinal canal
- A. L. Sánchez, C. Martínez-Bazán, C. Gutiérrez-Montes, E. Criado-Hidalgo, G. Pawlak, W. Bradley, V. Haughton, J. C. Lasheras
-
- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics / Volume 841 / 25 April 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 February 2018, pp. 203-227
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- Open access
- HTML
- Export citation
-
Radionuclide scanning images published in Nature by Di Chiro in 1964 showed a downward migration along the spinal canal of particle tracers injected in the brain ventricles while also showing an upward flow of tracers injected in the lumbar region of the canal. These observations, since then corroborated by many radiological measurements, have been the basis for the hypothesis that there must be an active circulation mechanism associated with the transport of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) deep down into the spinal canal and subsequently returning a portion back to the cranial vault. However, to date, there has been no physical explanation for the mechanism responsible for the establishment of such a bulk recirculating motion. To investigate the origin and characteristics of this recirculating flow, we have analyzed the motion of the CSF in the subarachnoid space of the spinal canal. Our analysis accounts for the slender geometry of the spinal canal, the small compliance of the dura membrane enclosing the CSF in the canal, and the fact that the CSF is confined to a thin annular subarachnoid space surrounding the spinal cord. We apply this general formulation to study the characteristics of the flow generated in a simplified model of the spinal canal consisting of a slender compliant cylindrical pipe with a coaxial cylindrical inclusion, closed at its distal end, and subjected to small periodic pressure pulsations at its open entrance. We show that the balance between the local acceleration and viscous forces produces a leading-order flow consisting of pure oscillatory motion with axial velocities on the order of a few centimetres per second and amplitudes monotonically decreasing along the length of the canal. We then demonstrate that the nonlinear term associated with the convective acceleration contributes to a second-order correction consisting of a steady streaming that generates a bulk recirculating motion of the CSF along the length of the canal with characteristic velocities two orders of magnitude smaller than the leading-order oscillatory flow. The results of the analysis of this idealized geometry of the spinal canal are shown to be in good agreement not only with experimental measurements in an in-vitro model but also with radiological measurements conducted in human adults.