Applications of Acoustic Rhinometry in the Modeling of Living Human Nasal Cavity Based on CT Scan

Acoustic rhinometry can quantify upper airway condition of air draft by drawing a graph plotting the distance from the nostril vs. the cross-sectional area. Some decrease on the graph corresponds to the typical anatomic structures of human nasal cavity. The 3-dimensional, computing fluid dynamic model of the same person was developed based on computed tomography scans. The veracity of the CFD model were valued by contrasting the relevant areas of stenosis site between the model and the AR graph. The aim in this study is to make clear how to use an AR to help improve and enrich the CFD model with the information of graph acquired from the measurement. The combination of AR and CT can be used to establish a living human nasal cavity model with higher significant information content.© 2005 ASME