Computational fluid dynamics simulations of submicrometer and micrometer particle deposition in the nasal passages of a Sprague-Dawley rat

Abstract

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted in a model of the complete nasal passages of an adult male Sprague-Dawley rat to predict regional deposition patterns of inhaled particles in the size range of 1 nm to 10 μm. Steady-state inspiratory airflow rates of 185, 369, and 738 ml/min (equal to 50%, 100%, and 200% of the estimated minute volume during resting breathing) were simulated using Fluent™. The Lagrangian particle tracking method was used to calculate trajectories of individual particles that were passively released from the nostrils. Computational predictions of total nasal deposition compared well with experimental data from the literature when deposition fractions were plotted against the Stokes and Peclet numbers for micro- and nanoparticles, respectively. Regional deposition was assessed by computing deposition efficiency curves for major nasal epithelial cell types. For micrometer particles, maximum olfactory deposition was 27% and occurred at the lowest flow rate with a particle diameter of 7 μm. Maximum deposition on mucus-coated non-olfactory epithelium was 27% for 3.25 μm particles at the highest flow rate. For submicrometer particles, olfactory deposition reached a maximum of 20% with a particle size of 5 nm at the highest flow rate, whereas deposition on mucus-coated non-olfactory epithelium reached a peak of approximately 60% for 1–4 nm particles at all flow rates. These simulations show that regional particle deposition patterns are highly dependent on particle size and flow rate, indicating the importance of accurate quantification of deposition in the rat for extrapolation of results to humans.