Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is a disease characterized by a collapse of the pharyngeal airway resulting in repeated episodes of airflow cessation, oxygen desaturation, and sleep disruption. It is a common disorder affecting at least 2-4% of the adult population. The role of nasal resistance in the pathogenesis of sleep disordered breathing and sleep apnoea has not been completely clarifie...

Current rhinometric and flow assessments measure nasal patency and are often poorly correlated with rhinitis symptoms. To evaluate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a new method to measure inflammatory changes in nasal and sinus mucosa following nasal allergen challenge. A pilot study (n = 6) determined the optimal technical settings for MRI to measure inflammatory change which were then adop...

BACKGROUND Inhalation of swine dust causes airway inflammation with influx of inflammatory cells, predominantly neutrophils, into the lungs. A study was undertaken to determine whether or not exposure to swine dust induces release of interleukin 8 (IL-8) into upper and lower airways and how this possible release is related to cellular influx. A further aim was to study the relationship between ...

We describe a simple and inexpensive method for monitoring nasal air flow resistance using measurement of the small-signal acoustic input impedance of the nasal passage, similar to the audiological measurement of ear drum compliance with acoustic tympanometry. The method requires generation of a fixed sinusoidal volume-velocity stimulus using ear-bud speakers, and an electret microphone to moni...

Stepped-tube models with a constriction in the anterior section were used to evaluate the effects that nasal valve passage area and nasal cavity shape have on acoustic rhinometry (AR) measurements. The AR-determined cross-sectional areas beyond a constriction of small passage area were consistently underestimated, and the corresponding area-distance curves showed pronounced oscillations. Also, ...