Arthur Peter Wunderlich1, Barbara Doll2, Marc Scheithauer3, Wolfgang Freund1, Karsten Urban4, Ulrich Simon2
1Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Univ.-Clinic Ulm, Ulm, Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany; 2Scientific Computing Centre, University Ulm, Ulm, Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany; 3Otolaryngology, Univ.-Clinic Ulm, Ulm, Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany; 4Institue for Numerical Mathematics, University Ulm, Ulm, Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany
To study the feasibility of simulating the nasal air flow in inspiration and expiration with finite volume methods, we investigated one healthy subject with high-resolution MRI during breathing of a) room air and b) menthol. In a third experiment, the same sequence was used c) after inhalation of xylometazoline, a widely used decongestant drug. Nasal airways were segmented from MRI data and inspiratory as well as expiratory flow in all three conditions was simulated with mathematical methods. Simulations reveal pressure-flow-curves separately for both conchae as well as flow distribution in nasal airways and their dependence on medication.