A Review of Respiratory Anatomical Development, Air Flow Characterization and Particle Deposition

Mohammad S. Islam, Gunther Paul, Hui X. Ong, Paul M. Young, Y. T. Gu and Suvash C. Saha
Additional contact information
Mohammad S. Islam: School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Gunther Paul: Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Mackay, QLD 4741, Australia
Hui X. Ong: Respiratory Technology, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Discipline of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, 431 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW 2037, Australia
Paul M. Young: Respiratory Technology, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Discipline of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, 431 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW 2037, Australia
Y. T. Gu: School of Chemistry, Physics & Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology 2 George Street, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
Suvash C. Saha: School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-28

Abstract: The understanding of complex inhalation and transport processes of pollutant particles through the human respiratory system is important for investigations into dosimetry and respiratory health effects in various settings, such as environmental or occupational health. The studies over the last few decades for micro- and nanoparticle transport and deposition have advanced the understanding of drug-aerosol impacts in the mouth-throat and the upper airways. However, most of the Lagrangian and Eulerian studies have utilized the non-realistic symmetric anatomical model for airflow and particle deposition predictions. Recent improvements to visualization techniques using high-resolution computed tomography (CT) data and the resultant development of three dimensional (3-D) anatomical models support the realistic representation of lung geometry. Yet, the selection of different modelling approaches to analyze the transitional flow behavior and the use of different inlet and outlet conditions provide a dissimilar prediction of particle deposition in the human lung. Moreover, incorporation of relevant physical and appropriate boundary conditions are important factors to consider for the more accurate prediction of transitional flow and particle transport in human lung. This review critically appraises currently available literature on airflow and particle transport mechanism in the lungs, as well as numerical simulations with the aim to explore processes involved. Numerical studies found that both the Euler–Lagrange (E-L) and Euler–Euler methods do not influence nanoparticle (particle diameter ≤50 nm) deposition patterns at a flow rate ≤25 L/min. Furthermore, numerical studies demonstrated that turbulence dispersion does not significantly affect nanoparticle deposition patterns. This critical review aims to develop the field and increase the state-of-the-art in human lung modelling.

Keywords: airflow; particle transport; particle deposition; particle-particle interaction; Euler-Lagrange method; Euler-Euler approach (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/2/380/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/2/380/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:2:p:380-:d:305853

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().