Longitudinal mixing in pulmonary airways--normal subjects respiring at a constant flow

Contribution of upper airway geometry to convective mixing

We investigated the axial dispersive effect of the upper airway structure (comprising mouth cavity, oropharynx, and trachea) on a traversing aerosol bolus. This was done by means of aerosol bolus experiments on a hollow cast of a realistic upper airway model (UAM) and three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations in the same UAM geometry. The experiments showed that 50-ml boluses injected into the UAM dispersed to boluses with a half-width ranging from 80 to 90 ml at the UAM exit, across both flow rates (250, 500 ml/s) and both flow directions (inspiration, expiration). These experimental results imply that the net half-width induced by the UAM typically was 69 ml. Comparison of experimental bolus traces with a one-dimensional Gaussian-derived analytical solution resulted in an axial dispersion coefficient of 200–250 cm2/s, depending on whether the bolus peak and its half-width or the bolus tail needed to be fully accounted for. CFD simulations agreed well with experimental results for inspiratory boluses and were compatible with an axial dispersion of 200 cm2/s. However, for expiratory boluses the CFD simulations showed a very tight bolus peak followed by an elongated tail, in sharp contrast to the expiratory bolus experiments. This indicates that CFD methods that are widely used to predict the fate of aerosols in the human upper airway, where flow is transitional, need to be critically assessed, possibly via aerosol bolus simulations. We conclude that, with all its geometric complexity, the upper airway introduces a relatively mild dispersion on a traversing aerosol bolus for normal breathing flow rates in inspiratory and expiratory flow directions.

Aerosols in the study of convective acinar mixing

Convective mixing (CM) refers to the different transport mechanisms except Brownian diffusion that irreversibly transfer inspired air into resident air and can be studied using aerosol bolus inhalations. This paper provides a review of the present understanding of how each of these mechanisms contributes to CM. Original data of the combined effect of stretch and fold and gravitational sedimentation on CM are also presented. Boli of 0.5 microm-diameter particles were inhaled at penetration volumes (V(p)) of 300 and 1200 ml in eight subjects. Inspiration was followed by a 10-s breath hold, during which small flow reversals (FR) were imposed, and expiration. There was no physiologically significant dependence in dispersion and deposition with increasing FR. The results were qualitatively similar to those obtained in a previous study in microgravity in which it was speculated that the phenomenon of stretch and fold occurred during the first breathing cycle without the need of any subsequent FR.

Bolus contaminant dispersion in oscillating flow in curved tubes

The investigation of longitudinal dispersion of tracer substances in unsteady flows has biomechanical application in the study of heat and mass transport within the bronchial airways during normal, abnormal, and artificial pulmonary ventilation. To model the effects of airway curvature on intrapulmonary gas transport, we have measured local gas dispersion in axially uniform helical tubes of slight pitch during volume-cycled oscillatory flow. Following a small argon bolus injection into the flow field, the time-averaged effective diffusion coefficient (Deff/Dmol) for axial transport of the contaminant was evaluated from the time-dependent local argon concentration measured with a mass spectrometer. The value of (Deff/Dmol) is extracted from the curve of concentration versus time by two techniques yielding identical results. Experiments were conducted in two helical coiled tubes (delta = 0.031, lambda = 0.022 or delta = 0.085, lambda = 0.060) over a range of 2 < alpha < 15, 3 < A < 15, where delta is the ratio of tube radius to radius of curvature, lambda is the ratio of pitch height to radius of curvature, alpha is the Womersley parameter or dimensionless frequency, and A is the stroke amplitude or dimensionless tidal volume. Experimental results show that, when compared to transport in straight tubes, the effective diffusivity markedly increases in the presence of axial curvature. Results also compare favorably to mathematical predictions of bolus dispersion in a curved tube over the ranges of frequency and tidal volume studied.

Aerosol dispersion in human lung: comparison between numerical simulations and experiments for bolus tests

Bolus inhalations of 0.87-micron-diameter particles were administered to 10 healthy subjects, and data were compared with numerical simulations based on a one-dimensional model of aerosol transport and deposition in the human lung (J. Appl. Physiol. 77: 2889-2898, 1994). Aerosol boluses were inhaled at a constant flow rate into various volumetric lung depths up to 1,500 ml. Parameters such as bolus half-width, mode shift, skewness, and deposition were used to characterize the bolus and to display convective mixing. The simulations described the experimental results reasonably well. The sensitivity of the simulations to different parameters was tested. Simulated half-width appeared to be insensitive to altered values of the deposition term, whereas it was greatly affected by modified values of the apparent diffusion in the alveolar zone of the lung. Finally, further simulations were compared in experiments with a fixed penetration volume and various flow rates. Comparison showed good agreement, which may be explained by the fact that half-width, mode shift, and skewness were little affected by the flow rate.

Longitudinal distribution of ozone absorption in the lung: effects of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone exposures

Investigators used an ozone bolus inhalation method to study the effects of continuous exposure to ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide on ozone absorption in the conducting airways of human lungs. Healthy, young nonsmokers (6 males, 6 females) were exposed on separate days for 2 h to air containing 0.36 ppm nitrogen dioxide, 0.75 ppm nitrogen dioxide, 0.36 ppm sulfur dioxide, or 0.36 ppm ozone. Every 30 min, the subject interrupted exposure for approximately 5 min, during which he or she orally inhaled five ozone boluses-each in a separate breath. Investigators targeted penetration of the boluses distal to the lips in the 70-130-ml range, which corresponded to the lower conducting airways. The authors computed the change in absorption resulting from exposure (delta lambda) by comparing the amount of each ozone bolus that was absorbed with a corresponding value obtained prior to exposure. Results indicated that ozone exposure caused delta lambda to decrease relative to air exposure (p < .01), whereas both nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide exposures caused an increase in delta lambda that was not significantly different from air exposure. This resulted, at least in part, to an artifact caused by preexposure to ozone boluses. The authors concluded that exposure of the lower conducting airways to nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide increased their capacity to absorb ozone because more of the biochemical substrates that are normally oxidized by ozone were made available. During continuous ozone exposure, this excess of substrate is depleted and the absorption of ozone boluses decreases.

Influence of gas composition on convective and diffusive intrapulmonary gas transport

The influence of gas composition on convective and diffusive gas transport in the lungs was assessed by studying the dispersion of combined particle and argon (Ar) boluses induced by the passage through the lungs filled with three different gas mixtures. Particles, as a "nondiffusing gas," served as a tracer for convective gas transport, while the significance of diffusive gas transport was inferred from the difference in the behavior of Ar and particles. The lungs of six anesthetized and mechanically ventilated beagle dogs were equilibrated with air or either of the test atmospheres, He-O2 or SF6-O2, where nitrogen was replaced by helium (He) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Due to differences in gas density and gas viscosity Reynolds numbers varied by a factor of twelve and Ar diffusivity by a factor of four between He-O2 and SF6-O2, suggesting that both kinds of intrapulmonary gas transport, convection and diffusion, should be affected. Combined particle and Ar boluses were inhaled into various lung depths and the extent of gas transport was inferred from changes in bolus shape induced by the passage through the lungs. In air, convective bulk gas transport generally followed the symmetric first-in, last-out principle and acted at all tested lung depths. Within the conducting airways, gas transport to the lung periphery was primarily due to convection but beyond these airways diffusion became rapidly significant. Breathing test atmospheres affects intrapulmonary gas transport only slightly. The extent of convective mixing was increased by 4% in SF6-O2 (p < .01) and reduced by 5% in He-O2 (p < .01) as compared to air. The symmetry of convective lung filling and emptying was slightly disturbed. In SF6-O2 the mean of the exhaled bolus was shifted by 8% toward the lung periphery. In He-O2 it was shifted by 4% toward the airway opening. In both test atmospheres exhaled Ar boluses were similar, suggesting that diffusive gas transport overwhelms the small changes in convective gas transport. Hence, factors other than gas composition-related flow characteristics, e.g., nonreversibility of in- and expiratory flow profiles or features of lung geometry, are the major determinants of gas transport in the lungs.

Inert gas mixing in the upper and central airways of man

The dispersion of an inert bolus of helium (He) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) was used as a direct, non-invasive measure of longitudinal gas mixing in the conducting airways of three human subjects. Penetration volume was determined as the milliliters of air inspired after bolus injection, and by computing the increase in mixing between bolus penetrations of 30 and 90 ml, mixing was characterized in the intervening upper airway compartment. Mixing in a central airway compartment was similarly evaluated as the increased mixing between bolus penetrations of 90 and 150 ml. To investigate mixing mechanisms during inspiration, inspiratory flow rate was varied between 0.2 and 1.8 L . sec-1 while the expiratory flow rate was held constant at 0.4 L . sec-1 and conversely, expiratory mixing mechanisms were studied at a fixed inspiratory flow of 0.4 L . sec-1 by varying expiratory flow from 0.2 to 2.4 L . sec-1. Under all eight experimental conditions (i.e. two inert gases X two airway compartments X two variable flow half-cycles), the extent of SF6 mixing was found to be three times that of He, and this is indicative of a dispersion process in which radial diffusion limits longitudinal mixing. This was further supported by the positive correlation between mixing and expiratory flow in the upper airway compartment. Mixing in this compartment did not vary with inspiratory flow, possibly because of the influence of turbulence generated by the glottis. In the central airways, the effect of changes in both inspiratory and expiratory flow was insignificant.

A mechanical approach to the longitudinal dispersion of gas flowing in human airways

The aim of this work is to contribute to elucidating the mechanism underlying gas mixing in the human pulmonary airways. For this purpose, a particular attempt is made to analyse the fluid mechanical aspects of gaseous dispersion using bolus response methods. The experiments were performed on five normal subjects by injection of 10 cm3 bolus of He, Ar and SF6 into the latter part of the inspired airstream, in such a way that the whole bolus entered the inspiratory flow and was recovered during the following expiration. The results, presented in a logarithmic plot of dimensionless variance (dispersion of the output bolus) against the Peclet number, show that gaseous dispersion is only slightly dependent on the nature of the tracer gas but is strongly related to flow velocity. This is in agreement with the theory of turbulent or disturbed dispersion; however, it seems that Taylor laminar dispersion does not play a significant role in the airways.

The mixing and axial transport of smoke in oscillatory tube flows

To gain a better insight on the mechanisms of transport in high-frequency ventilation, we examined the transport of smoke in a straight tube, a model of the trachea. A smoke bolus was injected into a ventilator, and the movement of the smoke along the tube was monitored by a laser-photomultiplier system. With this system we studied the instantaneous movement of the smoke cycle by cycle and that over a longer period. From the latter, a transport coefficient can be calculated to characterize how fast the smoke is transported along the tube. We found that for low frequency, the flow is laminar with a transport coefficient smaller or approximately 700 cm2/s. For very high frequencies, the oscillatory flow becomes turbulent and effects a strong radial and axial mixing. The transport coefficient increases to as high as 5,000 cm2/s. Over a certain intermediate range of the frequency, the mixing can be a laminar one over several cycles of oscillation and a turbulent one for some subsequent cycles.

Cardiogenic mixing in the pulmonary conducting airways of man?

The increase in dispersion of a bolus of helium (He) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) was used as a direct, non-invasive measure of pulmonary gas mixing in the conducting airways of one female and two male subjects. Mixing was compared for matched respiratory maneuvers at rest and during bicycle ergometer exercise at 35-50% VO2 max (tidal volume of 2 L, inspiratory flow rate greater than or equal to 1.5 L/s, mean expiratory flow rate of 2.8 L/s, and bolus penetrations of 30, 90, 150 and 180 ml). No enhancement of mixing occurred when the heart rate was increased 53% by bicycle exercise. The results suggest that cardiogenic mixing in the upper and central airways is unresponsive to normal changes in the hear rate.