Particle Image Velocimetry of Human Cough

Cough generated infectious aerosols are of interest while developing strategies for the mitigation of disease risks ranging from the common cold to SARS. In this work, the velocity field of human cough was measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The project subjects (total 29) coughed into an enclosure seeded with stage fog. Cough flow velocity profiles, average widths of the cough jet, and maximum cough velocities were measured. Maximum cough velocities ranged from 1.5 m/s to 28.8 m/s. The average width of all coughs ranged between 35 to 45 mm. Wide variability in the data suggests that future cough simulations consider a range of conditions.