Comparison of 4D Phase-Contrast MRI Flow Measurements to Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Cerebrospinal Fluid Motion in the Cervical Spine
Figure 5
Thru-plane peak CSF velocity profiles (foot direction) at each axial location along the cervical spine.
The left and right image for each subject corresponds to the CFD simulation and 4D PC MRI measurements along the cervical spine (FM-C7 level), respectively. CSF velocities were elevated in the anterior SSS in comparison to the posterior space in all of the 4D PC MRI velocity profiles (healthy and patients). The posterior versus anterior flow differences were not present in the CFD results; which maintained a fairly uniform velocity profile around the spinal cord in all simulations except CM 1 and CM 2 near the FM. Note, velocity scales are different for each image (shown at bottom of each image set) so as to highlight the difference in velocity profiles.