Abstract
The present study investigated design parameters of shunt valves and anti-siphon device used to treat patients with hydrocephalus. The shunt valve controls drainage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through passive deflection of a thin and small diaphragm. The anti-siphon device(ASD) is optionally connected to the valve to prevent overdrainage when the patients are in the standing position. The major design parameters influencing pressure-flow characteristics of the shunt valve were analyzed using ANSYS structural program. Experiments were performed on the commercially available valves and showed good agreements with the computer simulation. The results of the study indicated that predeflection of the shunt valve diaphragm is an important design parameter to determine the opening pressure of the valve. The predeflection was found to depend on the diaphragm tip height and could be adjusted by the diaphragm thickness and its elastic modulus. The major design parameters of the ASD were found to be the clearance (gap height) between the thin diaphragm and the flow orifice. Besides the gap height, the opening pressure of the ASD could be adjusted by the diaphragm thickness, its elastic modulus, area ratio of the diaphragm to the flow orifice. Based on the numerical simulation which considered the increased subcutaneous pressure introduced by the tissue capsule pressure on the implanted shunt valve system, optimum design parameters were proposed for the ASD.