• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.413-418
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• 2001

We developed shunt valves used to treat patients with hydrocephalus. The valves under development were constant Pressure type ventriculoperitoneal (VP) calves made of silicone elastomer. In vitro experiments showed that our valves had similar Pressure-flow control characteristics to the valved currently available in the market. Our valves also showed competent performance in the 28 days of continuous pumping tests acording to the IS07197 specifications. We artificially inducted hydrocephalus to a 10kg beagle do9. The size of the ventricles of the dog was substantially increased and the dog showed abnormal behavior. After our valve being implanted, the ventricles recovered regular size with the normal behavior observed in the dog. The flow orifice of the shunt valve diaphragm was in the older of 10$\mu$m during calve operation and hence the pressure-flow control characteristics tended to change by a small chance in the valve dimension. Therefore, precision design and manufacturing techniques were necessary for successful operations of the shunt valves .

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1421-1428
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• 2000

Objectives : The aim of this study is to evaluate the sequential metabolic changes in experimental hydrocephalus and the clinical applicability to the diagnosis and prognosis of hydrocephalus using proton MR spectroscopy. Methods : Hydrocephalus was experimentally induced in 30 cats(2-3kg body weight) by injecting 1ml of sterile kaolin suspension(250mg/ml) into the cisterna magna. Proton MRS was performed with a 1.5 T MRI/MRS unit (Vision Plus, Siemens) at pre-treatment and at 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after the kaolin injection. PRESS(TR/TE＝1500/270msec) technique was employed. The major metabolites which include N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), creatine(Cr), choline(Cho), and lactate(Lac) were quantitatively analyzed and the relative concentrations ratios were evaluated. Multislice $T_2$-weighted images were also obtained using fast spin echo sequence(TR/TE＝ 2500/96msec) to monitor the morphologic changes along with progression of hydrocephalus. Results : Hydrocephalus was successfully induced in all 30 cats. Twenty five cats died within 3 days and one at the end of the second week. In all animals, the NAA/Cr ratios initially decreased during the acute stage. In 4 surviving cats, the NAA/Cr ratios initially decreased during the acute stage(<14 days) and then gradually increased to the prekaolin level as follows : pre-kaolin($1.49{\pm}0.04$), day 1($1.11{\pm}0.07$), day 7($1.17{\pm}0.04$), day 14($1.40{\pm}0.03$), day 21 ($1.46{\pm}0.06$), day 28($1.43{\pm}0.03$). These levels were relatively well correlated with the symptomatologic improvement. Lactate peak, which reflects the evidence of ischemia, did not appear throughout the entire period except in one case which expired at the end of the second week. Conclusions : The NAA/Cr ratio of the sequential proton MRS in kaolin-induced hydrocephalic cats reflects a metabolic aspect of the hydrocephalus at each stage. A decreased NAA level at the early stage is from both neuronal and axonal damage which may provide diagnostic information in the acute stage of hydrocephalus. In addition, the initial fall of NAA/Cr ratio and recovery in the late stage, when no lactate peak emerges, may suggest that the main insult of the parenchyma is not to the neuron itself but to the axon, which may be related to a good prognosis. However, emergence of the lactate peak and unrecoverable NAA/Cr at the end of the acute phase may be a poor prognostic factor. In the chronic stage, recovery of NAA/Cr ratio may provide a diagnostic clue for the differentiation between hydrocephalus and cortical atrophy.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.391-395
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• 2002

Shunt valves used to treat patient with hydrocephalus were numerically simulated to investigate influence of pressure pulsation on their flow control characteristics. We modeled flow orifice through the shunt valve and imposed pulsating pressure and valve diaphragm movement to compute flow through the valve. The results of our study indicated that flow rates increased more than 40% by introducing pressure pulsation and diaphragm movement on the shunt valve. Our results demonstrate the pressure-flow control characteristics of shunt valves implanted above human brain may be quite different from those obtained by syringe pump test just after manufacture that induces uniform pressure.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.403-412
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• 2001

The Present study analyzed the pressure-flow characteristics of a Korean shunt valve. Changes in the characteristic currie depending on the design parameters were also investigated. The Korean shunt valve used in the present study was constant pressure type and our analyses were validated through experiments. We applied fluid-structure interaction to solve the flow dynamic Problem because the small diaphragm in the valve was made from flexible silicone elastomers. Considering the material nonlinearity of the hyper-elastic material. the Mooney-Rivlin approximation was employed. The results of the numerical analyses were close to the experimental results The major Pressure drop was observed to happen in the small diaphragm. The slope of the pressure-flow characteristic curve was computed to be 0.37mm$H_2O$.hr/cc, which was similar to the average value of commercial shunt valves. 0.40mm$H_2O$.hr/cc. Therefore. our valves analyzed in the Present study showed a Proper Pressure control characteristics of the constant pressure type shunt valves. The opening pressure could be controlled by adjusting the amount of predeflection of the valve diaphragm. In order to obtain opening pressures of 25mm$H_2O$ and 80mm$H_2O$, respectively, and the required predeflection was found to be 10.2$\mu$m and 35.3$\mu$m. The flow orifice size was found to be within 10$\mu$m during valve operation Therefore, Precision design and manufacturing techniques are necessary for successful operations of the shunt valve. The study indicated the amount of predeflection as well as the magnitude of corner rounding of the diaphragm edge are important design parameters to influence the slope of the pressure-flow characteristic curve.