Effect of surfactant in an airway closure model

Abstract

A model of the bronchioles lined by the airway surface liquid is employed to investigate the Plateau-Rayleigh instability that can lead to the occlusion of the airways. We demonstrate that increasing the surfactant concentration and their strength, the airway closure gets slowed down and the wall stresses are reduced up to 20%. We further predict the generation at which airway closure will occur in human lungs depending on the liquid lining thickness and the initial surfactant concentration.