To prevent aneurysmal
rupture,
intracranial aneurysms are often treated with endovascular
metal coils that fill the
aneurysm sac and stimulate
thrombus formation, thereby isolating the
aneurysm from the arterial flow. Despite its widespread use, this method can result in suboptimal outcomes leading to
aneurysm recurrence. Recently,
shape memory polymer foam has been proposed as an alternative
aneurysm filler. In this work, a computational
thrombus model is used to predict the clotting response within idealized 2D
aneurysms virtually treated with foam. The results are compared to previously reported clot formation predictions in identical 2D
aneurysm geometries filled with simplified endovascular
metal coil shapes. Each of the foam-filled
aneurysms reached at least 94%
thrombus occlusion regardless of foam pore size or orientation, whereas the final
thrombus occlusion within the coil-filled
aneurysms varied from 80.8 to 92.2% with many of the cases leaving large areas in the
aneurysm neck unfilled. Based on the simulations presented here,
shape memory polymer foams may be able to produce more predictable, uniform, and complete clotting results than bare
metal coils, independent of foam geometry or orientation.