Pre-surgery planning tool for estimation of resection volume to improve nasal breathing based on lattice Boltzmann fluid flow simulations.

PURPOSE: State-of-the-art medical examination techniques (e.g., rhinomanometry and endoscopy) do not always lead to satisfactory postoperative outcome. A fully automatized optimization tool based on patient computer tomography (CT) data to calculate local pressure gradient regions to reshape pathological nasal cavity geometry is proposed. METHODS: Five anonymous pre- and postoperative CT datasets with nasal septum deviations were used to simulate the airflow through the nasal cavity with lattice Boltzmann (LB) simulations. Pressure gradient regions were detected by a streamline analysis. After shape optimization, the volumetric difference between the two shapes of the nasal cavity yields the estimated resection volume. RESULTS: At LB rhinomanometry boundary conditions (bilateral flow rate of 600 ml/s), the preliminary study shows a critical pressure gradient of -1.1 Pa/mm as optimization criterion. The maximum coronal airflow ΔA  := cross-section ratio [Formula: see text] found close to the nostrils is 1.15. For the patients a pressure drop ratio ΔΠ  := (pre-surgery - virtual surgery)/(pre-surgery - post-surgery) between nostril and nasopharynx of 1.25, 1.72, -1.85, 0.79 and 1.02 is calculated. CONCLUSIONS: LB fluid mechanics optimization of the nasal cavity can yield results similar to surgery for air-flow cross section and pressure drop between nostril and nasopharynx. The optimization is numerically stable in all five cases of the presented study. A limitation of this study is that anatomical constraints (e.g. mucosa) have not been considered.

Nasal cavity airflow: Comparing laser doppler anemometry and computational fluid dynamic simulations.

Objective parameters to assess the physical flow conditions of breathing are scarce and decisions for surgery, e.g. nasal septum correction, mainly rely on subjective surgeon judgment. To define decision supporting parameters, we compare laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) and numerical computational fluid dynamic simulations (CFD) of the airflow velocity vector fields in the nasal cavity, including lattice Boltzmann (LB) and finite volume methods (FVM). The simulations are based on an anonymous patient CT dataset with septal deviation. LDA measurements are preformed using a 3D printed model. Nasal airflow geometry is randomly deformed in order to approximate surgical changes. The root-mean-square velocity error near the nasal valve of laser Doppler anemometry and lattice Boltzmann simulations is 0.071. Changes in geometry similarly affect both measurement and simulation.