In this publication my primary contributions were the simulations of fluid sheer stresses (FSS) in the nervous system due to movement of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using COMSOL Multiphysics. The reason for investigating this (especially my part) was to determine how much the stresses changed when cancer was present and if it could reasonably contribute to metastasis - which is the spread of cancer by breaking off mechanically from the original tumour.

The geometry was based on medical imagery of a healthy mouse’s nervous system I was provided and some references of unhealthy mice with tumours present. I then altered the healthy baseline to simulate different levels of blockage due to tumours to observe the influence varying degrees of blockage would affect the flow of CSF and the stresses the flow would impart on the surroundings which included the tumour.