Prediction of localized aerosol deposition in a realistic replica of human airways using experimental data and numerical simulation

Abstract

The presence of aerosol deposition hot-spots in human airways presumably contributes to development of various diseases. The overall aerosol deposition in human lungs can be predicted with sufficient accuracy nowadays. However, the prediction of localized aerosol deposition poses arduous challenge, namely in diseased lungs. Numerical simulation is considered to be a promising tool for the successful prediction. Yet, the validation of such simulations is difficult to perform, as not enough experimental data acquired using realistic airway replicas is available. This paper presents a first comparison of localized deposition measurement and simulation performed on the identical realistic geometry. The analysis indicates that both approaches yield similar results for low Reynolds number flows.The presence of aerosol deposition hot-spots in human airways presumably contributes to development of various diseases. The overall aerosol deposition in human lungs can be predicted with sufficient accuracy nowadays. However, the prediction of localized aerosol deposition poses arduous challenge, namely in diseased lungs. Numerical simulation is considered to be a promising tool for the successful prediction. Yet, the validation of such simulations is difficult to perform, as not enough experimental data acquired using realistic airway replicas is available. This paper presents a first comparison of localized deposition measurement and simulation performed on the identical realistic geometry. The analysis indicates that both approaches yield similar results for low Reynolds number flows.