Finite element study of the respiratory flow patterns with in human upper airways

Abstract

In the present study we modeled the time dependent velocity profile of human upper airway during pranayama. The human upper airway is the passage that allows the interchange of gases between the lungs and the ambient air. During the process of inspiration, the upper airway plays an important role in warming, humidifying and cleaning the air. The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of pressure waveform and velocity profiles in human lungs bifurcation. An attempt is made to formulate an unsteady two dimensional bifurcation of human lungs airway in the upper respiratory system. Flow of air (oxygen) in the lung is considered as Newtonian fluid. The cylindrical coordinate system has been taken for analytical formulation. A qualitative analysis of numerical results has finally been performed together with their discussion at length in order to validate the applicability of the present mathematical model. © 2010 International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.