Biomechanics Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Biomechanics, including details on mechanics of living organisms, movement, locomotion, prosthetic limbs.

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

Elad D, Naftali S, Rosenfeld M, Wolf M

Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv Univ., Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. elad@eng.tau.ac.il

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.

Published 9 February 2006 in J Appl Physiol, 100(3): 1003-10.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Biomechanics Research Today. All Rights Reserved.