Researcher(s)
- John Thomas, Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Catherine Fromen, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware
Abstract
The Total Inhaled Deposition in an Actuated Lung (TIDAL) model, developed by the Fromen Lab, can give insight into the appropriate dosage of inhaled pharmaceuticals though the deposition of aerosolized particles in the lung during at rest breathing1. Deposition within TIDAL’s five 3D-printed lobes is tested by exposure to fluorescent tracer aerosols over a five-minute breathing cycle. Although actuated to the total volume moved by the entire lung, the goal of this project is to actuate each lobe to its unique realistic breathing profile (BP) for more accurate deposition in the TIDAL model. Currently, the BP for each lobe is proportional to one another, a simplification of the true asymmetric motion of the human lung. To achieve these realistic BPs, single-lobe studies were completed to produce motor controls that replicate the flow loop of an inhale and exhale derived from clinical data2. Flow loops are generated by normalizing the flowrates through each lobe during a one-minute breathing cycle. Relative motor speed, actuation patterns, and delays were altered to generate the target flow loops, while the distance the motor travels controls the volume of inhale and exhale. Another focus is to model the time to complete one breath and the volume moved by each lobe of the lung during an inhale or exhale. The model was validated by ensuring the volume moved by the lung aligned to clinical data. These validations were done through agreement and percent difference calculations on triplicates for each lobe. Once every lobe’s BP is actuated to the realistic model, the total model should generate a realistic total BP for a healthy adult-male lung, increasing the accuracy of the TIDAL model. These BPs will provide the baseline for future TIDAL models for exercise and diseases conditions such as asthma.
(1) Woodward, I. R.; Yu, Y.; Fromen, C. A. Experimental Full-volume Airway Approximation for Assessing Breath-dependent Regional Aerosol Deposition. Device 2024, 2 (12). DOI: 10.1016/j.device.2024.100514 From NLM PubMed-not-MEDLINE.
(2) Jahani, N.; Choi, S.; Choi, J.; Iyer, K.; Hoffman, E. A.; Lin, C. L. Assessment of regional ventilation and deformation using 4D-CT imaging for healthy human lungs during tidal breathing. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2015, 119 (10), 1064-1074. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00339.2015 From NLM Medline.