Characteristic size research of human nasal cavity and the respiratory airflow CFD analysis

To study the airflow distribution in human nasal cavity during respiration and the characteristic parameters for nasal structure, thirty three-dimensional, anatomically accurate representations of adult nasal cavity models were reconstructed based on processed tomography images collected from normal people. The airflow fields in nasal cavities were simulated using the fluid dynamics with the finite element software ANSYS. The results showed that the difference of human nasal cavity structure led to varying airflow distribution in the nasal cavities and the main airflow passed through the common nasal meatus. The nasal resistance in the regions of nasal valve and nasal vestibule accounted for more than a half of overall resistance. The characteristic model of nasal cavity was extracted based on the characteristic points and dimensions deducted from the original models. It showed that either the geometric structure or the airflow field of the two kinds of model was similar. The characteristic dimensions were the characteristic parameters of nasal cavity that properly represented the original model in research for nasal cavity.