A computational study of fluid transport characteristics in the brain parenchyma of dementia subtypes

The cerebral environment is a complex system consisting of parenchymal tissue and multiple fluids. Dementia is a common class of neurodegenerative diseases, caused by structural damages and functional deficits in the cerebral environment. In order to better understand the pathology of dementia from a cerebral fluid transport angle and provide clearer evidence that could help differentiate between dementia subtypes, such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, we conducted fluid–structure interaction modelling of the brain using a multiple-network poroelasticity model, which considers both neuropathological and cerebrovascular factors. The parenchyma was further subdivided and labelled into parcellations to obtain more localised and detailed data. The numerical results were converted to computed functional images by an in-house workflow. Different cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clearance abnormalities were identified in the modelling results, when comparing Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. This paper presents our preliminary results as a proof of concept for a novel clinical diagnostic tool, and paves the way for a larger clinical study.