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🧠 Intracranial Pressure Regulation and the Monro-Kellie Doctrine

Explore how the rigid skull keeps intracranial pressure stable by trading volume between brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood, and what happens when that compensation runs out.

Medical Technology & Imaging Physics3DModerate60 FPS

This simulation demonstrates how the skull's three compartments, brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood, trade volume to keep intracranial pressure stable, and how that compensation follows a pressure-volume curve that starts flat and then rises steeply once compensatory reserves are exhausted.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

🎮 How to Use

Add volume to a chosen compartment, such as simulating a growing tumor, hemorrhage, or edema, and watch how cerebrospinal fluid and venous blood volumes shift in response. Track intracranial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure on the live readouts, and observe where the current state sits on the pressure-volume curve as you push further into the steep, decompensated region.

💡 Did You Know?

Did you know that a person can tolerate a slow-growing brain tumor of significant size with few symptoms, yet a sudden bleed of just a few tens of milliliters can be fatal? The difference often comes down to where the added volume lands on the pressure-volume curve, not just how much volume was added.

⚙ Under the hood

Explore how the skull's fixed volume forces brain, CSF, and blood compartments to compensate for each other, and what happens when compensation runs out.

intracranial-pressuremonro-kelliecerebrospinal-fluidneurologybrain-injurycerebral-perfusion-pressureclinical-medicinephysiology

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install