Unraveling the fluid mechanical mechanisms of sound production in pulsatile tinnitus using high-fidelity CFD

Venous pulsatile tinnitus (PT) is sound associated with abnormal blood flow near auditory structures in the head, which can impact mental health and may be associated with intracranial hypertension. High-frequency flow instabilities, vortical flow, and regions of high time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) have previously been associated with the sounds of PT, but do not identify potential mechanisms for sound...

This CFD modelling study advances mechanistic understanding of venous pulsatile tinnitus linked to intracranial hypertension, but is not yet translatable to clinical practice; no actionable change for audiologists at this stage.

Clarifying the fluid-mechanical origins of pulsatile tinnitus may eventually guide surgical or interventional treatment planning and improve diagnostic imaging protocols.

1. 01High-fidelity CFD (computer blood-flow simulation) used to model sound generation in pulsatile tinnitus.
2. 02Focuses on venous pulsatile tinnitus associated with intracranial hypertension (raised pressure inside the skull).
3. 03Identifies specific fluid mechanical mechanisms — such as turbulent flow at venous stenoses — as sound sources.
4. 04Purely computational/modelling study; no patient-level clinical outcomes measured.
5. 05Published in Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology (PMID 42098523).

PMID

42098523

DOI

10.1007/s10237-026-02049-7.

Journal

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

5

Population

Computational model(s) of venous anatomy associated with pulsatile tinnitus and intracranial hypertension

Intervention

High-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of venous blood flow