Reconstruction and validation of arterial geometries for computational fluid dynamics using multiple temporal frames of 4D flow-MRI magnitude Images

Purpose

Segmentation and reconstruction of arterial blood vessels is a fundamental step in the translation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to the clinical practice. Four-dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging (4D Flow-MRI) can provide detailed information of blood flow but processing this information to elucidate the underlying anatomical structures is challenging. In this study, we present a novel approach to create high-contrast anatomical images from retrospective 4D Flow-MRI data.

Methods

For healthy and clinical cases, the 3D instantaneous velocities at multiple cardiac time steps were superimposed directly onto the 4D Flow-MRI magnitude images and combined into a single composite frame. This new Composite Phase-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Angiogram (CPC-MRA) resulted in enhanced and uniform contrast within the lumen. These images were subsequently segmented and reconstructed to generate 3D arterial models for CFD. Using the time-dependent, 3D incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, the transient aortic haemodynamics was computed within a rigid wall model of patient geometries.

Results

Validation of these models against the gold standard CT-based approach showed no statistically significant inter-modality difference regarding vessel radius or curvature (p > 0.05), and a similar Dice Similarity Coefficient and Hausdorff Distance. CFD-derived near-wall hemodynamics indicated a significant inter-modality difference (p > 0.05), though these absolute errors were small. When compared to the in vivo data, CFD-derived velocities were qualitatively similar.

Conclusion

This proof-of-concept study demonstrated that functional 4D Flow-MRI information can be utilized to retrospectively generate anatomical information for CFD models in the absence of standard imaging datasets and intravenous contrast.