Mechanism for measurement of flow rate of cerebrospinal fluid in hydrocephalus shunts

The measurement of the flow rate of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or existence of CSF flow inside the shunt tube after shunt implant have been reported as tedious process for both patients and doctors; this paper outlines a potential in vitro flow rate measurement method for CSF in the hydrocephalus shunt. The use of implantable titanium elements in the shunt has been proposed to allow for an accurate temperature measurement along the shunt for prediction of CSF flow rate. The CSF flow velocity can be deduced by decoupling the thermal transfer in the measured differential time at a pair of measurement spots of the titanium elements. Finite element analyses on the fluidic and thermal behaviors of the shunt system have been conducted. Preliminary bench-top measurements on a simulated system have been carried out. The measured flow rates, ranging from 0.5 mm/sec to 1.0 mm/sec, which is clinically practical, demonstrate good agreements with the simulation results.