Abstract
Hydrocephalus is the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the confines of the skull that if left untreated results in significant morbidity and mortality. The treatment for hydrocephalus has remained essentially unchanged for over 50 years. It was a technological advance in materials that allowed John Holter, in conjunction with neurosurgeons Spitzer and Nulsen, to devise a valve and shunt system that diverted excess CSF from the ventricular space to the peritoneum. This ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt is far from ideal, with problems associated with under/over shunting, mechanical mismatch, infection, high failure rates, disconnection and erosion. With the advances in the field of micro-fabrication and micro-machines we propose an innovative shunt system that would mimic the function of arachnoid granulations. This micro-fabricated shunting device, or micro-mechanical arachnoid granulation (MAG), consists of a multiplicity of micro-valves each 210 μm in diameter that each adhere to individual micro-needles. This work demonstrates the design and initial test results of the micro-valve with parameters for low cracking pressure, optimal flow rate, and reflux that would mimic the function of the native arachnoid granulations.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aizenberg J et al (2004) Biological and bioinspired materials and devices, vol 823. In: Materials Research Society symposium proceedings, Warrendale, 2004
Boockvar JA, Loudon W, Sutton LN (2001) Development of the Spitz-Holter valve in Philadelphia. J Neurosurg 95:145–147
Drake JM, Destle J, Milner R et al (1998) Randomized trial of cerebrospinal fluid shunt valve design in pediatric hydrocephalus. Neurosurgery 43:294–305
Gardeniers JGE, Luttge R, Berenschot JW, de Boer MJ, Yeshurun Y, Hefetz M, van’t Oever R, van der Berg A (2003) Silicon micromachined hollow needles for transdermal liquid transport. J Microelectromech Syst 6(1):855–862
Grzybowski DM, Holman DW, Katz SE, Lubow M (2006) In vitro model of cerebrospinal fluid outflow through human arachnoid granulations. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 47(8):3664–3672
Henry S, McAllister DV, Allen MG, Prausnitz MR (1998) Microfabricated microneedles: a novel approach to transdermal drug delivery. J Pharm Sci 87(8):922–925
Lin L, Pisano AP (1999) Silicon-processed microneedles. J Microelectromech Syst 8(1):78–84
Lizhofer A, Ritter B, Tsakmakis Ch (1995) Development of passive microvalves by the finite element method. J Microelectromech Microeng 5:226–230
Noh H-S, Huang Y, Hesketh PJ (2004) Parylene micromolding, a rapid and low-cost fabrication method of parylene microchannel. Sens Actuators B Chem 102:78–85
Noh H-S, Moon K-S, Cannon A, Hesketh PJ, Wong CP (2004) Wafer bonding using microwave heating of parylene intermediate layers. J Micromech Microeng 14:625–631
Patwardhan RV, Nanda A (2005) Implanted ventricular shunts in the United States: the billion-dollar-a-year cost of hydrocephalus treatment. Neurosurgery 56(1):139–145
Upton ML, Weller RO (1985) The morphology of cerebrospinal fluid drainage pathways in human arachnoid granulations. J Neurosurg 63(6):867–875
Wang X-Q, Tai Y-C (2000) A normally closed in-channel micro check valve. In: The thirteenth annual international conference on MEMS, Miyazaki, 2000, pp 68–73
Wang X-Q, Lin Q, Tai Y-C (1999) A Parylene micro check valve. In: The twelfth IEEE international conference on MEMS, Orlando, 1999, pp 177–182
Conflict of interest statement
We declare that we have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag/Wien
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kralick, F., Oh, J., Medina, T., Noh, H.(. (2012). Micro-fabricated Shunt to Mimic Arachnoid Granulations for the Treatment of Communicating Hydrocephalus. In: Schuhmann, M., Czosnyka, M. (eds) Intracranial Pressure and Brain Monitoring XIV. Acta Neurochirurgica Supplementum, vol 114. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-0956-4_47
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-0956-4_47
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna
Print ISBN: 978-3-7091-0955-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-0956-4
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)