Pneumocephalus is a phenomenon whereby air accumulates within the cranial cavity. This can occur due to various reasons, such as head trauma, erosion from extracranial infections and barotrauma, but of interest in the study was the formation of pneumocephalus following brain surgery. Pneumocephalus post-brain surgery can occur due to the loss of CSF and the removal of abnormal brain tissue, where the empty space can be filled with air. Although pneumocephalus following brain surgery is generally not considered to be harmful, patients who have undergone brain surgery are often advised not to travel by air immediately post-surgery. This is to prevent the possibility of tension pneumocephalus associated with air travel, where the air cavity inside the skull expands in response to the lower cabin pressure of the airplane. The expansion of the air cavity compresses the brain, which can be harmful and may potentially cause mass effect and herniation.
Generally, the air entrapped within the cranial cavity is absorbed by the body within 4 to 6 weeks; however, the medical literature is at odds on the management of this problem. A survey conducted on consultant neurosurgeons in the UK found that the timescale in which patients are allowed to travel by air varies from less than 2 weeks to more than 8 weeks after surgery. This varied timescale suggests that there is lack of evidence, standards and guidelines available in the literature, which presents a major problem to the management of pneumocephalus post-surgery.
The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of changes in the ambient pressure and temperature on the increase in intracranial pressure. Using the Ideal Gas Law and the intracranial pressure system developed by Marmarou et al., a mathematical model was built, using MATLAB, to describe effects of ambient pressure on the change in intracranial pressure. The model was adapted to include the effects of ambient temperature.
Check out the source code. Now this was the first thing that I did that was closest to actual programming. I had dabbled here and there before but this was the first time writing such a complex program (and it worked! 😁). It was what kind of nudged me into the field of IT.