Variations of flow in human airways as a consequence of lung diseases

Frantisek Lizal,Jan Jedelsky,Miroslav Jicha,Miloslav Belka,Vladimir Herout,Elena Lizalova Sujanska,David Stejskal,Kristian Brat

doi:10.1051/epjconf/201818002055

Frantisek Lizal, Jan Jedelsky + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201818002055

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Abstract

The efficiency of drug delivery administered by inhalation depends, among other factors, such as size and shape of aerosol particles, significantly also on the flow in the airways. As many lung diseases change both the breathing pattern and the shape of airways, we focus in this study on the influence of several selected diseases on the distribution of flow between the lung lobes and on changes the diseases induce on the course of flowrate. First, we present results of a literature survey focused on the published records of pathological breathing patterns. In the second part, we describe the newly designed breathing simulator and the implementation of the patterns into it. The last part is focused on the experimental verification of fidelity of the simulated breathing patterns.

Highlights

A proper delivery of a prescribed medication to afflicted lung regions is a crucial point of the therapy of respiratory diseases
The efficiency of the drug delivery administered by inhalation depends, among other factors, such as size and shape of aerosol particles, on the flow in the airways
The measurements showed that there were no significant differences between the clean air and aerosol path for the cases with disconnected valves

Summary

Introduction

A proper delivery of a prescribed medication to afflicted lung regions is a crucial point of the therapy of respiratory diseases. The efficiency of the drug delivery administered by inhalation depends, among other factors, such as size and shape of aerosol particles, on the flow in the airways. Our ability to predict the distribution of inhaled particles in diseased airways is insufficient [1]. Human airways consist of the oral (and nasal) cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea and 23 generations of bronchial branching. The lungs are divided into five lobes, while two lobes are formed in the left lung and three lobes are formed in the right lung. The respiratory cycle comprises the active action of inspiration, which is driven by the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, and the passive phase of expiration, which uses natural elasticity of the lungs and thorax

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