Patient-specific computational analysis of oscillatory and shear flow behavior in cerebral aneurysms across age and health conditions

This study presents a comparative computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of hemodynamic behavior at the aneurysm neck (ostium) across four conditions: a young individual, an elderly individual, a person with normal cerebral vasculature and a patient with a cerebral aneurysm. The novelty lies in systematically evaluating how age and pathology influence key flow parameters — velocity, wall shear stress (WSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI) and vorticity — under identical boundary conditions. Results show that the young subject exhibits the highest peak velocity ([Formula: see text]0.32[Formula: see text]m/s) and WSS (956[Formula: see text]Pa), indicating strong and organized flow. In contrast, the elderly case shows the highest OSI (0.2808), suggesting greater flow instability. The aneurysm model demonstrates moderate WSS (765[Formula: see text]Pa) with sustained but disturbed flow and localized high vorticity, while the normal cerebral model maintains low and stable hemodynamic forces. These findings highlight distinct flow signatures shaped by age and pathology, underscoring the importance of patient-specific assessment in aneurysm risk evaluation.