scholarly journals Assessing Airflow Sensitivity to Healthy and Diseased Lung Conditions in a Computational Fluid Dynamics Model Validated In Vitro

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bora Sul ◽  
Zachary Oppito ◽  
Shehan Jayasekera ◽  
Brian Vanger ◽  
Amy Zeller ◽  
...  

Computational models are useful for understanding respiratory physiology. Crucial to such models are the boundary conditions specifying the flow conditions at truncated airway branches (terminal flow rates). However, most studies make assumptions about these values, which are difficult to obtain in vivo. We developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of airflows for steady expiration to investigate how terminal flows affect airflow patterns in respiratory airways. First, we measured in vitro airflow patterns in a physical airway model, using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The measured and computed airflow patterns agreed well, validating our CFD model. Next, we used the lobar flow fractions from a healthy or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) subject as constraints to derive different terminal flow rates (i.e., three healthy and one COPD) and computed the corresponding airflow patterns in the same geometry. To assess airflow sensitivity to the boundary conditions, we used the correlation coefficient of the shape similarity (R) and the root-mean-square of the velocity magnitude difference (Drms) between two velocity contours. Airflow patterns in the central airways were similar across healthy conditions (minimum R, 0.80) despite variations in terminal flow rates but markedly different for COPD (minimum R, 0.26; maximum Drms, ten times that of healthy cases). In contrast, those in the upper airway were similar for all cases. Our findings quantify how variability in terminal and lobar flows contributes to airflow patterns in respiratory airways. They highlight the importance of using lobar flow fractions to examine physiologically relevant airflow characteristics.

2020 ◽  
pp. 194589242095015
Author(s):  
Giancarlo B. Cherobin ◽  
Richard L. Voegels ◽  
Fábio R. Pinna ◽  
Eloisa M. M. S. Gebrim ◽  
Ryan S. Bailey ◽  
...  

Background Past studies reported a low correlation between rhinomanometry and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), but the source of the discrepancy was unclear. Low correlation or lack of correlation has also been reported between subjective and objective measures of nasal patency. Objective: This study investigates (1) the correlation and agreement between nasal resistance derived from CFD (RCFD) and rhinomanometry (RRMN), and (2) the correlation between objective and subjective measures of nasal patency. Methods Twenty-five patients with nasal obstruction underwent anterior rhinomanometry before and after mucosal decongestion with oxymetazoline. Subjective nasal patency was assessed with a 0-10 visual analog scale (VAS). CFD simulations were performed based on computed tomography scans obtained after mucosal decongestion. To validate the CFD methods, nasal resistance was measured in vitro (REXPERIMENT) by performing pressure-flow experiments in anatomically accurate plastic nasal replicas from 6 individuals. Results Mucosal decongestion was associated with a reduction in bilateral nasal resistance (0.34 ± 0.23 Pa.s/ml to 0.19 ± 0.24 Pa.s/ml, p = 0.003) and improved sensation of nasal airflow (bilateral VAS decreased from 5.2 ± 1.9 to 2.6 ± 1.9, p < 0.001). A statistically significant correlation was found between VAS in the most obstructed cavity and unilateral airflow before and after mucosal decongestion (r = −0.42, p = 0.003). Excellent correlation was found between RCFD and REXPERIMENT (r = 0.96, p < 0.001) with good agreement between the numerical and in vitro values (RCFD/REXPERIMENT = 0.93 ± 0.08). A weak correlation was found between RCFD and RRMN (r = 0.41, p = 0.003) with CFD underpredicting nasal resistance derived from rhinomanometry (RCFD/RRMN = 0.65 ± 0.63). A stronger correlation was found when unilateral airflow at a pressure drop of 75 Pa was used to compare CFD with rhinomanometry (r = 0.76, p < 0.001). Conclusion CFD and rhinomanometry are moderately correlated, but CFD underpredicts nasal resistance measured in vivo due in part to the assumption of rigid nasal walls. Our results confirm previous reports that subjective nasal patency correlates better with unilateral than with bilateral measurements and in the context of an intervention.


Author(s):  
Dooyoung Lee ◽  
Kuldeepsinh Rana ◽  
Karin Lee ◽  
Lisa A. DeLouise ◽  
Michael R. King

In previous work, we have described the adhesive capture of circulating stem cells to surfaces coated with adhesive selectin protein, both in vitro and in vivo. Here we describe PDMS surfaces microfabricated to contain an array of square 80 × 80 × 80 micron cavities. These cavities are intended to provide a local bioreactor environment to culture stem cells over extended periods of time, while sheltered from the higher shear stresses of the surrounding blood flow external of the cavities. In this paper we present in vitro flow experiments with polymeric, blood cell-sized microspheres, showing the creation of stable vortices within the microscale cavities. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was performed to predict the velocity field within the cavity, and for comparison with experimentally determined microsphere velocities. Future work will establish the ability to place local chemoattract molecules within the cavity interior, and the ability to accumulate viable stem cells within these cavities.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002367722093771
Author(s):  
Ira Katz ◽  
Kateryna Voronetska ◽  
Mickaël Libardi ◽  
Matthieu Chalopin ◽  
Patricia Privat ◽  
...  

Several studies based on in vivo or in vitro models have found promising results for the noble gas argon in neuroprotection against ischaemic pathologies. The development of argon as a medicinal product includes the requirement for toxicity testing through non-clinical studies. The long exposure period of animals (rats) during several days results in technical and logistic challenges related to the gas administration. In particular, a minimum of 10 air changes per hour (ACH) to maintain animal welfare results in extremely large volumes of experimental gas required if the gas is not recirculated. The difficulty with handling the many cylinders prompted the development of such a recirculation-based design. To distribute the recirculating gas to individually ventilated cages and monitor them properly was deemed more difficult than constructing a single large enclosure that will hold several open cages. To address these concerns, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the preliminary design was performed. A purpose-made exposure chamber was designed based on the CFD simulations. Comparisons of the simulation results to measurements of gas concentration at two cage positions while filling show that the CFD results compare well to these limited experiments. Thus, we believe that the CFD results are representative of the gas distribution throughout the enclosure. The CFD shows that the design provides better gas distribution (i.e. a higher effective air change rate) than predicted by 10 ACH.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (158) ◽  
pp. 20190465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa C. Brindise ◽  
Sean Rothenberger ◽  
Benjamin Dickerhoff ◽  
Susanne Schnell ◽  
Michael Markl ◽  
...  

Typical approaches to patient-specific haemodynamic studies of cerebral aneurysms use image-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and seek to statistically correlate parameters such as wall shear stress (WSS) and oscillatory shear index (OSI) to risk of growth and rupture. However, such studies have reported contradictory results, emphasizing the need for in-depth multi-modality haemodynamic metric evaluation. In this work, we used in vivo 4D flow MRI data to inform in vitro particle velocimetry and CFD modalities in two patient-specific cerebral aneurysm models (basilar tip and internal carotid artery). Pulsatile volumetric particle velocimetry experiments were conducted, and the particle images were processed using Shake-the-Box, a particle tracking method. Distributions of normalized WSS and relative residence time were shown to be highly yet inconsistently affected by minor flow field and spatial resolution variations across modalities, and specific relationships among these should be explored in future work. Conversely, OSI, a non-dimensional parameter, was shown to be more robust to the varying assumptions, limitations and spatial resolutions of each subject and modality. These results suggest a need for further multi-modality analysis as well as development of non-dimensional haemodynamic parameters and correlation of such metrics to aneurysm risk of growth and rupture.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongin Yang ◽  
Alan Palazzolo

This paper presents the first simulation model of a tilting pad journal bearing (TPJB) using three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD), including multiphase flow, thermal-fluid, transitional turbulence, and thermal deformation of the shaft and pads employing two-way fluid–structure interaction (FSI). Part I presents a modeling method for the static performance. The model includes flow between pads BP, which eliminates the use of an uncertain, mixing coefficient (MC) in Reynold's equation approaches. The CFD model is benchmarked with Reynold's model with a 3D thermal-film, when the CFD model boundary conditions are consistent with the Reynolds boundary conditions. The Reynolds model employs an oversimplified MC representation of the three-dimensional mixing effect of the BP flow and heat transfer, and it also employs simplifying assumptions for the flow and heat transfer within the thin film between the journal and bearing. This manufactured comparison shows good agreement between the CFD and Reynold's equation models. The CFD model is generalized by removing these fictitious boundary conditions on pad inlets and outlets and instead models the flow and temperature between pads. The results show that Reynold's model MC approach can lead to significant differences with the CFD model including detailed flow and thermal modeling between pads. Thus, the CFD approach provides increased reliability of predictions. The paper provides an instructive methodology including detailed steps for properly applying CFD to tilt pad bearing modeling. Parts I and II focus on predicting static and dynamic response characteristic responses, respectively.


Author(s):  
Xiaolin Wu ◽  
Stefanie Gürzing ◽  
Christiaan Schinkel ◽  
Merel Toussaint ◽  
Romana Perinajová ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Wall shear stress (WSS) is associated with the growth and rupture of an intracranial aneurysm. To reveal their underlying connections, many image-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies have been conducted. However, the methodological validations using both in vivo medical imaging and in vitro optical flow measurements were rarely accompanied in such studies. Methods In the present study, we performed a comparative assessment on the hemodynamics of a patient-specific intracranial saccular aneurysm using in vivo 4D Flow MRI, in silico CFD, in vitro stereoscopic and tomographic particle imaging velocimetry (Stereo-PIV and Tomo-PIV) techniques. PIV experiments and CFD were conducted under steady state corresponding to the peak systole of 4D Flow MRI. Results The results showed that all modalities provided similar flow features and overall surface distribution of WSS. However, a large variation in the absolute WSS values was found. 4D Flow MRI estimated a 2- to 4-fold lower peak WSS (3.99 Pa) and a 1.6- to 2-fold lower mean WSS (0.94 Pa) than Tomo-PIV, Stereo-PIV, and CFD. Bland-Altman plots of WSS showed that the differences between PIV-/CFD-based WSS and 4D Flow MRI-based WSS increase with higher WSS magnitude. Such proportional trend was absent in the Bland-Altman comparison of velocity where the resolutions of PIV and CFD datasets were matched to 4D Flow MRI. We also found that because of superior resolution in the out-of-plane direction, WSS estimation by Tomo-PIV was higher than Stereo-PIV. Conclusions Our results indicated that the differences in spatial resolution could be the main contributor to the discrepancies between each modality. The findings of this study suggest that with current techniques, care should be taken when using absolute WSS values to perform a quantitative risk analysis of aneurysm rupture.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-221
Author(s):  
Haroon Khan ◽  
Muhammad Zafar ◽  
Helena Den-Haan ◽  
Horacio Perez-Sanchez ◽  
Mohammad Amjad Kamal

Aim and Objective: Lipoxygenase (LOX) enzymes play an important role in the pathophysiology of several inflammatory and allergic diseases including bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, allergic conjunctivitis, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Inhibitors of the LOX are believed to be an ideal approach in the treatment of diseases caused by its over-expression. In this regard, several synthetic and natural agents are under investigation worldwide. Alkaloids are the most thoroughly investigated class of natural compounds with outstanding past in clinically useful drugs. In this article, we have discussed various alkaloids of plant origin that have already shown lipoxygenase inhibition in-vitro with possible correlation in in silico studies. Materials and Methods: Molecular docking studies were performed using MOE (Molecular Operating Environment) software. Among the ten reported LOX alkaloids inhibitors, derived from plant, compounds 4, 2, 3 and 1 showed excellent docking scores and receptor sensitivity. Result and Conclusion: These compounds already exhibited in vitro lipoxygenase inhibition and the MOE results strongly correlated with the experimental results. On the basis of these in vitro assays and computer aided results, we suggest that these compounds need further detail in vivo studies and clinical trial for the discovery of new more effective and safe lipoxygenase inhibitors. In conclusion, these results might be useful in the design of new and potential lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitors.


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