Instantaneous deposition rate of aerosols in the lung

气雾剂给药与患者个体呼吸模式的协调是开发下一代智能气雾剂给药装置的最大挑战之一。气溶胶沉积的精确数值模拟对于这些新设备的优化设计和开发至关重要。现有的沉积模型不能捕捉到瞬变呼吸模式的影响，也不能预测随时间变化的局部沉积速率。该项目的目标是开发新的气溶胶粒子瞬时、瞬时沉积速率的沉积函数。研究将首先在高度简化的几何形状上开发新的解析沉积函数，以获得可用于实际流动的函数形式。为了使解析函数适应真实的几何形状，如口咽喉和肺分叉，将开发一种新的实验系统。这一验证实验的工作原理是基于测量表面电荷积累来获得先前带电的粒子的沉积速率。这一装置将是此类装置中第一个能够以高精度实时测量气溶胶颗粒局部沉积速率的装置。这一实验装置的一个重要特点是能够同时测量多个位置的瞬时局部沉积速率。这项研究的结果将极大地提高我们理解和预测肺部不同区域气溶胶的瞬时沉积速率的能力。这将有助于开发下一代智能雾化器，它将提供更高效、更好控制的、有针对性的人类呼吸道药物输送。

The coordination of aerosol drug delivery with the breathing pattern of individual patients is one of the greatest challenges in developing the next generation of smart aerosol delivery devices. Accurate numerical simulation of aerosol deposition is essential for the optimal design and development of these new devices. The presently existing deposition models cannot capture the effect of transient breathing pattern and cannot predict the time dependent local deposition rates. The goal of this project is to develop novel deposition functions for the instantaneous, transient deposition rate of aerosol particles.The research will start with the development of new analytical deposition functions on highly simplified geometries to obtain functional forms that can be used in realistic flows. To adapt the analytical functions to realistic geometries, such as the mouth-throat and lung bifurcations, a novel experimental system will be developed. The working principle of this validation experiment is based on measuring electrical charge accumulation at surfaces to obtain the deposition rate of particles previously charged with a known unit charge. This setup will be the first of its kind to enable real-time measurement of local deposition rate of aerosol particles with high accuracy. An important feature of this experimental setup will be its ability to measure instantaneous local deposition rate at multiple locations simultaneously.The outcome of this research will greatly advance our ability to understand and to predict transient deposition rates of aerosols in different regions of lungs. This will help development of the next generation of smart nebulizers, which will offer a more efficient and better controlled, targeted delivery of drugs in human airways.