Abstract
A cerebral or intracranial aneurysm (ICA) is a condition that is defined as a local dilation of an artery in the brain due to locally weakened blood vessel walls. This creates a balloon-shaped bulge in the thin artery wall that can rupture, and the ensuing subarachnoid hemorrhage can cause a stroke, coma, or even death. Therefore, it is of interest to understand how ICAs grow and eventually rupture in order to develop earlier diagnosis or treatment techniques. Current imaging technologies include computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which can be used to generate three-dimensional computer-assisted design models. However, these 3D models only provide the shape of the ICA and monitory macroscopic growth of aneurysms, but are too low resolution to determine the specific wall thickness of vasculature. Aneurysms tend to rupture at the thinnest point in the vessel wall, but it is difficult to predict rupture location from just 3D geometry alone using a CT scan reconstruction.
