Abstrakt

The present contribution deals with the theoretical and experimental description of aerosol bolus dispersion in healthy and asthmatic children. For the simulation of aerosol bolus transport a stochastic model of the human respiratory tract was used, whereby generation of healthy and asthmatic lungs was realized by application of appropriate scaling procedures. Prediction of convective mixing processes in the airways and alveoli was carried out by means of the concept of effective diffusivities. Injected aerosol boluses consisted of monodisperse particles with a diameter of 0.4 µm and unit-density, whilst volumetric lung depth ranged from 95 ml to 540 ml (half-width of the bolus: 50 ml). In general, dispersion of the exhaled aerosol bolus exhibits an exponential increase with volumetric lung depth. Asthmatic children tend to develop higher bolus dispersion than healthy controls. Also skewness of the aerosol bolus shows partly remarkable differences between healthy and deseased probands. Thereby, theoretical results correspond very well with experimental findings.

Autoreninformation

Autoren

• R. Sturm

Abteilungen

• Abteilung für Materialwissenschaften und Physik, Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Österreich

Adresse

R. Sturm
Brunnleitenweg 41
5061 Elsbethen, Österreich
Email: [email protected]

Citation