The Fluid Mechanics of Stroke

Abstract

Stroke remains a leading global cause of death and disability, originating from disruption of blood supply to brain tissue either from blockage or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain. Understandably, fluid mechanics plays a critical role in stroke mechanisms, disease manifestation, and stroke treatment modalities. Yet investigations of the fluid mechanics of stroke have remained challenging, and many key aspects remain poorly understood, owing partly to the underlying complexity of multiscale flow phenomena in the brain that govern stroke. Here, we present a state-of-the-art exploration of fluid mechanics underlying cerebrovascular flow, the mechanisms of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, and their respective treatment modalities. Our review spans experimental, computational, and imaging-based methods to probe fluid mechanics phenomena in stroke. We specifically focus on linking fluid mechanics concepts to clinical and imaging factors, and we highlight the challenges and opportunities that fluid mechanics holds in enabling impactful new discoveries to improve stroke diagnosis, treatment, and patient care.