Numerical simulation of soft palate movement and airflow in human upper airway by fluid-structure interaction method

<正> In this paper,the authors present airflow fieldcharacteristics of human upper airway and soft palate move-ment attitude during breathing.On the basis of the data takenfrom the spiral computerized tomography images of a healthyperson and a patient with Obstructive Sleep Apnea-HypopneaSyndrome (OSAHS),three-dimensional models of upper air-way cavity and soft palate are reconstructed by the methodof surface rendering.Numerical simulation is performed forairflow in the upper airway and displacement of soft palate byfluid-structure interaction analysis.The reconstructed three-dimensional models precisely preserve the original config-uration of upper airways and soft palate.The results of thepressure and velocity distributions in the airflow field arequantitatively determined,and the displacement of soft palateis presented.Pressure gradients of airway are lower for thehealthy person and the airflow distribution is quite uniformin the case of free breathing.However,the OSAHS patientremarkably escalates both the pressure and velocity in theupper airway,and causes higher displacement of the softpalate.The present study is useful in revealing pathogenesisand quantitative mutual relationship between configurationand function of the upper airway as well as in diagnosing diseases related to anatomical structure and function of theupper airway.