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In Vitro Experiments and Numerical Simulations of Airflow in Realistic Nasal Airway Geometry

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Pressure–flow relationships measured in human plastinated specimen of both nasal cavities and maxillary sinuses were compared to those obtained by numerical airflow simulations in a numerical three-dimensional reconstruction issued from CT scans of the plastinated specimen. For experiments, flow rates up to 1500 ml/s were tested using three different gases: HeO2, Air, and SF6. Numerical inspiratory airflow simulations were performed for flow rates up to 353 ml/s in both the nostrils using a finite-volume-based method under steady-state conditions with CFD software using a laminar model. The good agreement between measured and numerically computed total pressure drops observed up to a flow rate of 250 ml/s is an important step to validate the ability of CFD software to describe flow in a physiologically realistic binasal model. The major total pressure drop was localized in the nasal valve region. Airflow was found to be predominant in the inferior median part of nasal cavities. Two main vortices were observed downstream from the nasal valve and toward the olfactory region. In the future, CFD software will be a useful tool for the clinician by providing a better understanding of the complexity of three-dimensional breathing flow in the nasal cavities allowing more appropriate management of the patient's symptoms.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was part of a collaborative project entitled R-MOD and supported by grants from Air Liquide and the French Ministry of Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fonctions Cellulaires et Moléculaires de l’Appareil Respiratoire et des Vaisseaux, Equipe Biomécanique Cellulaire et Respiratoire, INSERM UMR 651, Créteil, France

    Céline Croce, Redouane Fodil, Jean-François Papon, André Coste, Daniel Isabey & Bruno Louis

  2. Laboratoire d’Anatomie, Faculté de Médecine de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France

    Marc Durand

  3. Centre Hospitalier Emile Roux, Le Puy, France

    Marc Durand

  4. Centre de Recherche Claude Delorme, Air Liquide, Jouy-en-Josas, France

    Gabriela Sbirlea-Apiou & Georges Caillibotte

  5. Service d’ORL et de Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Créteil et Hôpital Henri Mondor (AP-HP), Créteil, France

    Jean-François Papon & André Coste

  6. Service de Radiologie, Centre Hospitalier Inter-Communal de Créteil, Créteil, France

    Jean-Robert Blondeau

  7. INSERM U651, Faculté de Médecine, 8 rue du Général Sarrail, 94010, Créteil Cedex, France

    Bruno Louis

Authors
  1. Céline Croce
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  2. Redouane Fodil
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  3. Marc Durand
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  4. Gabriela Sbirlea-Apiou
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  5. Georges Caillibotte
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  6. Jean-François Papon
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  7. Jean-Robert Blondeau
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  8. André Coste
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  9. Daniel Isabey
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  10. Bruno Louis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bruno Louis.

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Croce, C., Fodil, R., Durand, M. et al. In Vitro Experiments and Numerical Simulations of Airflow in Realistic Nasal Airway Geometry. Ann Biomed Eng 34, 997–1007 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-006-9094-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-006-9094-8

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