Flow simulation in the human upper respiratory tract

Computer simulations of airflow patterns within the human upper respiratory tract (URT) are presented. The URT model includes airways of the head (nasal and oral), throat (pharyngeal and laryngeal), and lungs (trachea and main bronchi). The head and throat morphology was based on a cast of a medical school teaching model; tracheobronchial airways were defined mathematically. A body-fitted three-dimensional curvilinear grid system and a multiblock method were employed to graphically represent the surface geometries of the respective airways and to generate the corresponding mesh for computational fluid dynamics simulations. Our results suggest that for a prescribed phase of breath (i.e., inspiration or expiration), convective respiratory airflow patterns are highly dependent on flow rate values. Moreover, velocity profiles were quite different during inhalation and exhalation, both in terms of the sizes, strengths, and locations of localized features such as recirculation zones and air jets. Pressure losses during inhalation were 30–35% higher than for exhalation and were proportional to the square of the flow rate. Because particles are entrained and transported within airstreams, these results may have important applications to the targeted delivery of inhaled drugs.