# Risk Assessment of Cerebral Aneurysm Growth with 4D flow MRI

> **NIH NIH R01** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $641,037

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The goal of this project is to determine the contribution of hemodynamic factors to risk assessment of unruptured
intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) and calculate these factors from enhanced in vivo 4D flow MRI data. Even though
most UIAs are stable, the majority of UIA patients are offered interventional treatment due to the grave risk
presented if an aneurysm ruptures. Previous studies indicated that in addition to clinical (e.g., age, sex,
comorbidities) and morphological (e.g., location and size) factors, UIA progression is affected by local blood flow
dynamics. Hemodynamic factors associated with UIA growth can be obtained from computational and
experimental models or from 4D flow MRI measurements; however, each approach has limitations. The previous
NIH-funded project focused on developing image-based computational methods for predicting postoperative flow
following interventions. The goal of this renewal is to use the developed framework to improve risk stratification
of UIAs using image-based flow analysis. The proposed project will develop multi-parametric predictive models
that combine clinical and morphological factors with hemodynamic factors calculated from augmented 4D flow
MRI data. The UIA growth predicted by different models will be compared to outcomes observed in longitudinal
imaging studies. The aims of the proposed project are, therefore, to: (1) determine the probability of UIA growth
by utilizing morphological and clinical factors together with hemodynamic factors obtained from computational
and experimental flow models by a) performing statistical analysis based on morphological and clinical factors
obtained from longitudinal imaging, and b) extending statistical model by including hemodynamic factors
computed from patient-specific models; (2) Enhance 4D flow MRI data by a) determining 4D flow reproducibility
and variability with in vitro studies, and b) applying advanced data augmentation methods to improve the
accuracy of calculated hemodynamic factors affecting aneurysm growth; (3) determine the probability of UIA
growth based on multi-parametric analysis utilizing hemodynamic factors calculated from enhanced 4D flow MRI.
Successful completion of the project will resolve the controversy regarding how hemodynamic factors affect
aneurysm growth and establish 4D flow MRI as a diagnostic tool for UIA risk stratification.
This collaborative project engages the cardiovascular engineering group at Purdue University and
neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists and MRI physicists at Northwestern University, University of California San
Francisco and Barrow Neurological Institute. This cross-disciplinary team will bring together experts in
neurovascular surgeries, MRI velocimetry, patient-specific flow computations, experimental fluid mechanics and
statistical analysis. Retrospective and prospective UIAs data obtained from these superb clinical centers will be
used in this study. The outstanding engineering resources available...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10460348
- **Project number:** 5R01HL115267-08
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Sameer A Ansari
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $641,037
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-09-03 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10460348

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10460348, Risk Assessment of Cerebral Aneurysm Growth with 4D flow MRI (5R01HL115267-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10460348. Licensed CC0.

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