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By Craig Skinner and Rob Woolhouse, Fluent Europe Ltd.
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Particle traces show the dispersion of
drug particles during inhalation
The periodic breathing through the trachea
and bronchial tubes of an idealized
adult has been modeled using FLUENT.
A sinusoidal expansion and contraction of the
walls was prescribed using the dynamic mesh
model, and an accompanying sinusoidal velocity
profile was assigned to the inlet. Pressure
boundaries were used for the flow outlets.
The results have been used to examine the
trajectories of fine particles, representative of
drugs delivered by an inhaler. Simulations such
as this are opening the door to many other
associated studies, such as investigations of
inhaler designs for the purpose of optimizing
the uniformity of drug particle dispersion
in the lungs.
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