title: Distribution of aerosolized particles in healthy and emphysematous rat lungs: comparison between experimental and numerical studies.
abstract: In silico models of airflow and particle deposition in the lungs are increasingly used to determine the therapeutic or toxic effects of inhaled aerosols. While computational methods have advanced significantly, relatively few studies have directly compared model predictions to experimental data. Furthermore, few prior studies have examined the influence of emphysema on particle deposition. In this work we performed airflow and particle simulations to compare numerical predictions to data from our previous aerosol exposure experiments. Employing an image-based 3D rat airway geometry, we first compared steady flow simulations to coupled 3D-0D unsteady simulations in the healthy rat lung. Then, in 3D-0D simulations, the influence of emphysema was investigated by matching disease location to the experimental study. In both the healthy unsteady and steady simulations, good agreement was found between numerical predictions of aerosol delivery and experimental deposition data. However, deposition patterns in the 3D geometry differed between the unsteady and steady cases. On the contrary, satisfactory agreement was not found between the numerical predictions and experimental data for the emphysematous lungs. This indicates that the deposition rate downstream of the 3D geometry is likely proportional to airflow delivery in the healthy lungs, but not in the emphysematous lungs. Including small airway collapse, variations in downstream airway size and tissue properties, and tracking particles throughout expiration may result in a more favorable agreement in future studies.
authors: INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France; Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ. Paris 6, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, 75005 Paris, France.
authors: Jessica M
authors: JM
authors: Oakes
authors: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
authors: Alison L
authors: AL
authors: Marsden
authors: INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France; Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ. Paris 6, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, 75005 Paris, France.
authors: Céline
authors: C
authors: Grandmont
authors: Department of Medicine, Division of Physiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
authors: Chantal
authors: C
authors: Darquenne
authors: INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France; Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ. Paris 6, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, 75005 Paris, France. Electronic address: irene.vignon-clementel@inria.fr.
authors: Irene E
authors: IE
authors: Vignon-Clementel
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010316:Particle Size; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D012119:Respiration; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols
keywords: Aerosol exposure experiments; Airflow; Computational fluid dynamics; Multi-scale; Particle deposition