Collaborative Research: Fluid Dynamics-based analysis towards control of sleep apnea

项目编号：1605232 / 1605434本研究的目的是探讨导致睡眠呼吸暂停的流体动力学机制，并制定基于流体动力学的干预策略。从根本上理解这种情况的原因非常重要，因为这种情况有时会导致死亡。本研究的目标是通过结合基于生理学的建模、基于物理的仿真、分析、验证和优化方法，推进生物流体动力学在预测和控制人类打鼾方面的基础知识。这种方法也适用于广泛的工程和生物系统，如降噪和发声。主要有两个目标：(1)开发一种揭示生物流-结构耦合问题的流动物理和声音产生机制的方法；(2)使用该方法调查最佳干预程序，以减轻漩涡引起的打鼾症状，提高生活质量。拟议的工作是高度跨学科的，涉及生物学，物理学，生理学和工程学领域的基础科学问题。打鼾是一种可听的信号，包含了人类呼吸功能的丰富信息。这种声音来自于柔顺的气道结构与气道变窄引起的瞬态涡脱落之间复杂的相互作用。然而，具体的打鼾源机制仍然难以捉摸，尽管显著的体外和临床努力。基于物理的鼾声源数值研究将有助于量化柔性气道的非线性响应与产生声音的呼吸涡动力学之间的关系。目前，鼾声源诊断依赖于昂贵且耗时的程序，这些程序外包给特殊的分析实验室。这些在体内和体外进行打鼾诊断的挑战将使数值方法成为理想的研究工具。PIs建议系统地研究不同年龄和性别群体的打鼾产生机制，特别关注生物流固相互作用和相关声源的潜在物理学。这将通过使用组合建模、仿真、分析、验证和优化方法来完成。本研究结果可提供术前指导，通过减少系统的声音产生来减轻呼吸暂停引起的因素。这项工作的发现可以用于声学专家和呼吸治疗师从其生物起源来理解声源的产生和控制。本研究发展的理论将促进打鼾源的准确诊断和有效治疗打鼾或其他呼吸系统疾病患者。研究工作也将成为多层次教育计划的中心主题，其中：(1)pi将继续提供暑期本科生研究经验，以吸引和留住来自代表性不足群体的工程专业学生；(2)建议的方法将被纳入pi现有的生物气流和呼吸气溶胶动力学研究生课程；(3)为高中和大学学生提供多学科培训和研究机会，并为弗吉尼亚大学和中密歇根大学的生物医学和生物启发工程项目提供教育实验室课程

PI: Dong, Haibo / XI, JinxiangProposal Number: 1605232 / 1605434The goal of the proposed research is to investigate the fluid dynamics mechanisms that can lead to sleep apnea and to develop fluid dynamics-based strategies for intervention. The importance of understanding the reasons for this condition at a fundamental level is very significant, since this condition that can sometimes result in deaths.The goal of the proposed research is to advance the fundamental knowledge of biological fluid dynamics in prediction and control of human snoring through a combined physiology-based modeling, physics-based simulation, analysis, verification, and optimization approach. This approach is also applicable to a wide range of engineering and biological systems, such as noise reduction and phonation. There are mainly two objectives: (1) to develop a methodology for unveiling the flow physics and sound-producing mechanism of biological fluid-structure coupling problems and (2) to use the methodology for the investigation of optimal intervention procedures in order to ease the vortex-induced snore symptoms towards a better quality of life. The proposed work is highly interdisciplinary and involves fundamental scientific problems in the fields of biology, physics, physiology, and engineering. Snoring is an audible sign coded with richness of information about human respiratory functions. The sound comes from a complex interaction between compliant airway structures and the transient vortex shedding which is induced by the narrowing of the airway passage. However, the specific snore source mechanisms are still elusive, despite the significant in vitro and clinical efforts. Physics-based numerical investigation of the snore source will promise to quantify the relationship between the nonlinear response of the flexible airways and the respiratory vortex dynamics for sound generation. Currently, snore source diagnosis relies on expensive and time-consuming procedures that are outsourced to special analytical laboratories. Such challenges in performing in vivo and in vitro snore diagnosis will make the numerical methods ideal investigative tools. The PIs propose to systematically study the snore-producing mechanisms of different age and gender groups, paying particular attention to the underlying physics of biological fluid-structure interaction and associated sound sources. This is to be accomplished through the use of a combined modeling, simulation, analysis, validation, and optimization approach. The findings from the proposed research could provide pre-surgical guidelines for alleviating the apnea-causing factors by minimizing sound production of the system. Findings from this work could be used by acoustic experts and respiratory therapists for understanding the sound source production and control from its biological origin. The theories developed from this research will promote accurate diagnosis of snore sources and effective treatment of patients with snoring or other respiratory disorders. The research work will also be the central theme in a multi-level education program in which: (1) PIs will continue to provide summer undergraduate research experience to attract and retain engineering students from under-represented groups; (2) the proposed methodology will be incorporated into the PIs' existing graduate level course on bio-inspired flow and respiratory aerosol dynamics; and (3) an educational lab curriculum in snore specialty will be developed to provide multi-disciplinary training and research opportunities for high-school and college students and to support biomedical and bio-inspired engineering programs in both University of Virginia and Central Michigan University