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Physical stresses at the air-wall interface of the human nasal cavity during breathing

Departments of ¹Biomedical Engineering and ²Fluid Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv; ³Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer; and ⁴Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Submitted 29 August 2005 ; accepted in final form 27 October 2005

The nose is the front line defender of the respiratory system and is rich with mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, and nerve endings. A time-dependent computational model of transport through nasal models of a healthy human has been used to analyze the fields of physical stresses that may develop at the air-wall interface of the nasal mucosa. Simulations during quiet breathing revealed wall shear stresses as high as 0.3 Pa in the noselike model and 1.5 Pa in the anatomical model. These values are of the same order of those known to exist in uniform large arteries. The distribution of temperature near the nasal wall at peak inspiration is similar to that of wall shear stresses. The lowest temperatures occur in the vicinity of high stresses due to the narrow passageway in these locations. Time and spatial gradients of these stresses may have functional effects on nasal sensation of airflow and may play a role in the well-being of nasal breathing.

airflow; wall shear stress; compressive pressure; temperature; mechanoreceptors

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