THE DEPOSITION OF AEROSOLS IN THE RESPIRATORY TRACT: I. MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON WITH EXPERIMENTAL DATA

The deposition of aerosol in the human respiratory tract was calculated as a function of the particle size and particle density of the aerosol, the manner of breathing, and various parameters which control the degree of mixing of inspired air with the dead space air and with the lung air. The computations were performed on an electronic computer, which allowed a full analysis of the effects of the various parameters. Agreement between the computed total deposition curves, and published experimental data was very satisfactory. The computed curves exhibited the minimum in total deposition previously established experimentally, in the region of 0.3 μ. The maximum in the alveolar deposition curve was about 1 μ for particles of unit density, confirming the results of Brown, Cook, Ney, and Hatch for nose breathing. Its position was a function of the density of the aerosol particles, but was relatively insensitive to the tidal volume and other breathing parameters. The opposite held in regard to the value of the maximum, which was totally uninfluenced by the particle density, but was affected by the breathing parameters.