Impact of Neurapheresis System on Intrathecal Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study

It has been hypothesized that early and rapid filtration of blood from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in postsubarachnoid hemorrhage patients may reduce hospital stay and related adverse events. In this study, we formulated a subject-specific computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to parametrically investigate the impact of a novel dual-lumen catheter-based CSF filtration system, the Neurapheresis™ system (Minnetronix Neuro, Inc., St. Paul, MN), on intrathecal CSF dynamics. The operating principle of this system is to remove CSF from one location along the spine (aspiration port), externally filter the CSF routing the retentate to a waste bag, and return permeate (uncontaminated CSF) to another location along the spine (return port). The CFD model allowed parametric simulation of how the Neurapheresis system impacts intrathecal CSF velocities and steady–steady streaming under various Neurapheresis flow settings ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 ml/min and with a constant retentate removal rate of 0.2 ml/min simulation of the Neurapheresis system were compared to a lumbar drain simulation with a typical CSF removal rate setting of 0.2 ml/min. Results showed that the Neurapheresis system at a maximum flow of 2.0 ml/min increased average steady streaming CSF velocity 2× in comparison to lumbar drain (0.190 ± 0.133 versus 0.093 ± 0.107 mm/s, respectively). This affect was localized to the region within the Neurapheresis flow loop. The mean velocities introduced by the flow loop were relatively small in comparison to normal cardiac-induced CSF velocities.