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.
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.
Sliders control the added volume in the skull (simulating tumor growth, hemorrhage, or edema) and the rate at which it is added; readouts display cerebrospinal fluid volume, venous blood volume, intracranial pressure, mean arterial pressure, and calculated cerebral perfusion pressure, alongside a live plot of position on the pressure-volume curve.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.