Publication detail

Comprehensive experimental and numerical validation of Lattice Boltzmann fluid flow and particle simulations in a child respiratory tract

PRINZ, F. POKORNÝ, J. ELCNER, J. LÍZAL, F. MIŠÍK, O. MALÝ, M. BĚLKA, M.HAFEN N KUMMERLÄNDER A. KRAUSE M. JEDELSKÝ, J. JÍCHA, M.

English title

Comprehensive experimental and numerical validation of Lattice Boltzmann fluid flow and particle simulations in a child respiratory tract

Type

journal article in Web of Science

Language

en

Original abstract

The numerical simulation of inhaled aerosols in medical research starts to play a crucial role in understanding local deposition within the respiratory tract, a feat often unattainable experimentally. Research on children is particularly challenging due to the limited availability of in vivo data and the inherent morphological intricacies. CFD solvers based on Finite Volume Methods (FVM) have been widely employed to solve the flow field in such studies. Recently, Lattice Boltzmann Methods (LBM), a mesoscopic approach, have gained prominence, especially for their scalability on High-Performance Computers. This study endeavours to compare the effectiveness of LBM and FVM in simulating particulate flows within a child’s respiratory tract, supporting research related to particle deposition and medication delivery using LBM. Considering a 5-year-old child’s airway model at a steady inspiratory flow, the results are compared with in vitro experiments. Notably, both LBM and FVM exhibit favourable agreement with experimental data for the mean velocity field and the turbulence intensity. For particle deposition, both numerical methods yield comparable results, aligning well with in vitro experiments across a particle size range of 0.1–20 µm. Discrepancies are identified in the upper airways and trachea, indicating a lower deposition fraction than in the experiment. Nonetheless, both LBM and FVM offer invaluable insights into particle behaviour for different sizes, which are not easily achievable experimentally. In terms of practical implications, the findings of this study hold significance for respiratory medicine and drug delivery systems — potential health impacts, targeted drug delivery strategies or optimisation of respiratory therapies.

English abstract

The numerical simulation of inhaled aerosols in medical research starts to play a crucial role in understanding local deposition within the respiratory tract, a feat often unattainable experimentally. Research on children is particularly challenging due to the limited availability of in vivo data and the inherent morphological intricacies. CFD solvers based on Finite Volume Methods (FVM) have been widely employed to solve the flow field in such studies. Recently, Lattice Boltzmann Methods (LBM), a mesoscopic approach, have gained prominence, especially for their scalability on High-Performance Computers. This study endeavours to compare the effectiveness of LBM and FVM in simulating particulate flows within a child’s respiratory tract, supporting research related to particle deposition and medication delivery using LBM. Considering a 5-year-old child’s airway model at a steady inspiratory flow, the results are compared with in vitro experiments. Notably, both LBM and FVM exhibit favourable agreement with experimental data for the mean velocity field and the turbulence intensity. For particle deposition, both numerical methods yield comparable results, aligning well with in vitro experiments across a particle size range of 0.1–20 µm. Discrepancies are identified in the upper airways and trachea, indicating a lower deposition fraction than in the experiment. Nonetheless, both LBM and FVM offer invaluable insights into particle behaviour for different sizes, which are not easily achievable experimentally. In terms of practical implications, the findings of this study hold significance for respiratory medicine and drug delivery systems — potential health impacts, targeted drug delivery strategies or optimisation of respiratory therapies.

Keywords in English

Lattice Boltzmann Method; Finite Volume Method; Particle deposition; In vitro measurement; Child airways

Released

01.03.2024

ISSN

0010-4825

Volume

170

Number

107994

Pages count

17

BIBTEX


@article{BUT187750,
  author="František {Prinz} and Jan {Pokorný} and Jakub {Elcner} and František {Lízal} and Ondrej {Mišík} and Milan {Malý} and Miloslav {Bělka} and Jan {Jedelský} and Miroslav {Jícha},
  title="Comprehensive experimental and numerical validation of Lattice Boltzmann fluid flow and particle simulations in a child respiratory tract",
  year="2024",
  volume="170",
  number="107994",
  month="March",
  issn="0010-4825"
}