3DRA Reconstruction of Intracranial Aneurysms – How does Voxel Size Influences Morphologic and Hemodynamic Parameters

Three-dimensional shape analysis and image-based hemodynamic simulations are widely used to assess the individual rupture risk of intracranial aneurysms. However, the quality of those results highly depends on pre-simulative working steps including image reconstruction and segmentation. Within this study, three patient-specific aneurysms were reconstructed using three different voxel sizes (0.1 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm). Afterwards, 3D segmentations and time-dependent blood flow simulations were carried out to evaluate the impact of the reconstruction size. The results indicate that overall all voxel sizes lead to a qualitatively good agreement with respect to the aneurysm surfaces. However, deviations occur regarding the neck representation as well as the consideration of perforating arteries. Further, morphological differences lead to clear hemodynamic variations, especially for shear force predictions. The findings indicate that depending on the desired analysis, careful reconstruction parameter selection is required. Particularly, for quantitative morphology and blood flow studies, the early step of reconstruction can have a crucial effect on subsequent results.