A Fourier-Based Approach to the Angiographic Assessment of Flow Diverter Efficacy in the Treatment of Cerebral Aneurysms

Flow diversion is an emerging endovascular treatment option for cerebral aneurysms. Quantitative assessment of hemodynamic changes induced by flow diversion can aid clinical decision making in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. In this article, besides summarizing past key research efforts, we propose a novel metric for the angiographic assessment of flow diverter deployments in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. By analyzing the frequency spectra of signals derived from digital subtraction angiography (DSA) series, the metric aims to quantify the prevalence of frequency components that correspond to the patient-specific heart rate. Indicating the decoupling of aneurysms from healthy blood circulation, our proposed metric could advance clinical guidelines for treatment success prediction. The very promising results of a retrospective feasibility study on 26 DSA series warrant future efforts to study the validity of the proposed metric within a clinical setting.