Aging effects on airflow distribution and micron-particle transport and deposition in a human lung using CFD-DPM approach

Understanding the transportation and deposition (TD) of inhaled aerosol particles in human lung airways is important for health risk assessment and therapeutic efficiency of targeted drug delivery. The particle TD into a human lung depends on lung anatomy, breathing pattern, as well as particle properties. The breathing capacity and lung airway diameters can be reduced by about 10% every 10 years after the age of 50. However, the age-specific particle TD in human lungs, particularly in the aged, has not been well understood in literature. This study investigates the particle TD in the lungs of people aged 50–70 years, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A new cutting method that splits the lung model into different sections has been developed as…