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Identification of the COVID-19 Droplet Deposition Path and Its Effects on the Human Respiratory Tract Before and After the Disease: A Scoping Novel Respiratory Mask Design

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Frontiers of COVID-19

Abstract

It is important to study the uptake of viral droplets in the human respiratory system in order to better understand, control, prevent, and treat diseases. Microdroplets can easily pass through ordinary respiratory masks. Therefore, conversation with a normal mask with “silent spreaders” makes the disease transmissibility possible.

In this study, a well-verified real anatomical model was used; the passage of air in the human upper respiratory system, computed using high-quality computer tomography (CT) images. Then, the air flow field along with the coronavirus microdroplets injection was examined in this realistic model, using fluid–structure interaction (FSI) method. The discrete phase model (DPM) was used to solve the field and with the help of it, the accurate assessment of the temporal and spatial motion of the deposition in the virus-impregnated droplets was obtained in vitro in the upper respiratory system.

The results show inhalation only through the nose, although the amount of deposited microdroplets in the olfactory epithelium area is low; however, they begin to move toward the brain through absorption in the cribriform plate with the most relaxation time in this area, that eventually leads to brain lesion damage, and in some cases to stroke. Other achievements of this study include the inverse relationship between droplet deposition efficiency in some parts of upper airway, which has the most deformation in the tract. Also, the increased amount of deformities per minute and 1.5 times more than usual, applied to the trachea and nasal cavity, could lead to chest pain and headache.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran

    Hamidreza Mortazavy Beni & Hamed Mortazavi

  2. Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Maryam Mansoori

  3. Department of Immunology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Fatemeh Aghaei

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  1. Hamidreza Mortazavy Beni
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  2. Hamed Mortazavi
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  3. Maryam Mansoori
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  4. Fatemeh Aghaei
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Correspondence to Hamidreza Mortazavy Beni .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Technology, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Sasan Adibi

  2. School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Paul Griffin

  3. Clinical - Vaccines, Clover Biopharmaceuticals, Zürich, Switzerland

    Melvin Sanicas

  4. Inflammation Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Maryam Rashidi

  5. Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Francesco Lanfranchi

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Beni, H.M., Mortazavi, H., Mansoori, M., Aghaei, F. (2022). Identification of the COVID-19 Droplet Deposition Path and Its Effects on the Human Respiratory Tract Before and After the Disease: A Scoping Novel Respiratory Mask Design. In: Adibi, S., Griffin, P., Sanicas, M., Rashidi, M., Lanfranchi, F. (eds) Frontiers of COVID-19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08045-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08045-6_6

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