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Effects of CT resolution and radiodensity threshold on the CFD evaluation of nasal airflow

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Abstract

The article focuses on the robustness of a CFD-based procedure for the quantitative evaluation of the nasal airflow. CFD ability to yield robust results with respect to the unavoidable procedural and modeling inaccuracies must be demonstrated to allow this tool to become part of the clinical practice in this field. The present article specifically addresses the sensitivity of the CFD procedure to the spatial resolution of the available CT scans, as well as to the choice of the segmentation level of the CT images. We found no critical problems concerning these issues; nevertheless, the choice of the segmentation level is potentially delicate if carried out by an untrained operator.

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Acknowledgments

Part of the calculations presented here has been carried out on the Lagrange supercomputer of the CINECA (formerly CILEA) computing center in Milano/Bologna, Italy. We thankfully acknowledge their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace Science and Technologies, Politecnico Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156, Milan, Italy

    Maurizio Quadrio, Stefano Corti, Chiara Pesci & Samuele Zampini

  2. Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Head and Neck Department, San Paolo Hospital, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via di Rudinì 8, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Carlotta Pipolo, Francesco Messina, Alberto M. Saibene & Giovanni Felisati

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  1. Maurizio Quadrio
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  2. Carlotta Pipolo
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  3. Stefano Corti
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  4. Francesco Messina
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  6. Alberto M. Saibene
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  7. Samuele Zampini
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  8. Giovanni Felisati
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Correspondence to Maurizio Quadrio.

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Quadrio, M., Pipolo, C., Corti, S. et al. Effects of CT resolution and radiodensity threshold on the CFD evaluation of nasal airflow. Med Biol Eng Comput 54, 411–419 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-015-1325-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-015-1325-4

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