The influence of contrast agent injection on physiological flow in the circle of Willis

X-ray videodensitometry allows in vivo flow measurements from gradients in contrast agent concentration. However, the injection of contrast agent alters the flow to be measured. Here, the temporal, spatial, and inter-patient variability of the response to injection are examined. To this purpose, an injection is prescribed in the internal carotid in a 1D wave propagation model of the arterial circulation. Although the resulting effect of injection is constant over a cardiac cycle, the response does vary with the location within the cerebral circulation and the geometry of the circle of Willis. At the injection site, the injection partly suppresses the incoming blood flow, such that the distal flow is increased by approximately 10%. This corresponds to approximately 20% of the injection rate added to the blood flow during injection, depending on the vascular geometry. In the communicating arteries, the flow direction is reversed during injection. Since the measured flow is not equal to the physiological blood flow, the effect of injection should be taken into account when deriving the flow from travelling contrast agent.