Computational Modeling and Simulation to Quantify the Effects of Obstructions on the Performance of Ventricular Catheters Used in Hydrocephalus Treatment.

Pediatric hydrocephalus is a debilitating condition that affects an estimated 1-2 in 1000 newborns, and there is no cure. A traditional treatment is surgical insertion of a shunt system which was designed 50 years ago, and minimal ensuing progress has been made in improving the failure rate of these devices resulting in the need for multiple brain surgeries during an affected child's lifetime for shunt replacement. A first step toward decreasing the failure rate is to optimize the ventricular catheter component of the shunt to minimize its propensity for obstruction.