Computational assessment of the effects of the catheter type on particle–hemodynamics during liver radioembolization

Radioembolization, which consist of the implantation of radioactive microspheres via intra-arterially placed microcatheter, is a safe and effective treatment for liver cancer. Nevertheless, radioembolization-related complications and side effects may arise, which are an active area of ongoing research. The catheter design has been claimed as an option in reducing these complications. In this paper, the influence of catheter type and location are investigated. The study was undertaken by numerically simulating the particle-hemodynamics in a patient-specific hepatic artery during liver radioembolization. The parameters modified were cancer scenario (30% liver involvement in the right lobe, 'scenario A', and in both lobes, 'scenario B'), catheter type (standard end-hole microcatheter, SMC, and antireflux catheter, ARC), and the location of the tip in the proper hepatic artery (in the straight part, 'inlet', and near the bifurcation, 'bifurcation'). Comparing ARC with SMC, the maximum and average (over segments) absolute difference in the percentage of particles that reached each segment were 19.62% and 9.06% when injecting near the inlet for scenario A; 3.54% and 1.07% injecting near the bifurcation for scenario A; and 18.31% and 11.85% injecting near the inlet for scenario B. It seems, therefore, that the location of the catheter tip in the artery is crucial in terms of particle distribution. Moreover, even though the near-tip blood flow was altered due to the presence of a catheter, the particle distribution matched the flow split if the distance between the injection point and the first bifurcation encountered enabled the alignment of particles with blood flow.