Importance of Falx and Tentorium in Simulating Dynamic Deformations of Brain under Mild Angular Accelerations

Authors

• Y-C Lu
• J Glaister
• KT Ramesh
• DL Pham
• JL Prince
• PV Bayly
• NP Daphalapurkar

Abstract

Physics-based computational head models of the brain can predict brain deformations under mild angular accelerations of the head. This study is aimed at validating a high-fidelity person-specific 3D head model using the Material Point Method (MPM) to simulate realistic shearing deformations experienced by the brain. We hypothesize that the falx and tentorium play an important role in modulating deformations in the brain during rotational accelerations of the head. A person-specific 3D computational model of the brain (with a uniform spatial resolution of 1x1x1 mm) was constructed from T1-weighted images and diffusion MRI. The cortical and subcortical structures were found using a multi-atlas segmentation algorithm and refined based on the reconstructed inner and outer cortical surfaces. The falx and tentorium were localized by fast marching the cortical labels into the longitudinal and transverse fissures. The shape of the falx was refined using a multi-atlas boundary fusion algorithm. The MPM simulation results are compared with measurements of brain deformation obtained from head axial and sagittal rotations inside the MRI scanner. Tagged-MRI was used to determine regional brain deformation with 1.5x1.5x8 mm spatial resolution and 18.06 ms temporal resolution. The results showed that the model with falx and tentorium reduced the maximum principal strain and maximum shear strain in comparison to the model without falx and tentorium.

Scientific Focus Area: Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics

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