Limited radial diffusion and pulmonary gas transport

Gilbert G. Berdine, MD Rafael, M. Rodriguez, John L. Lehr

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

Gas transport in the proximal airways has been traditionally viewed as a purely convective process. The authors reasoned that limited radial diffusion might have effects on pulmonary gas transport that are not predicted by simulations using effective diffusivities. In particular, regions of very low axial velocity could exclude some of the conducting airway volume from the dead space. To test this hypothesis, they studied the washout of He and SF6 using geometries in which the details of fluid flow are well understood: an abrupt cylindrical tube expansion and a cylindrical tube of uniform internal diameter. In addition, they examined the effect of wall irregularities and studied the gas transport properties of a human central airway cast.

Original languageEnglish
Pages43-45
Number of pages3
StatePublished - 1990
Externally publishedYes
EventWinter Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Dallas, TX, USA
Duration: Nov 25 1990Nov 30 1990

Conference

ConferenceWinter Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
CityDallas, TX, USA
Period11/25/9011/30/90

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