Steady pressure-flow relationship in a cast of the upper and central human airways.

Pressure drops across the upper (larynx) and central airways of a human lung cast were measured at steady state inspiratory and expiratory flows. Air, He-O2 and SF6-O2 gas mixtures were used at tracheal Reynolds' numbers ranging from 145 to 30,000. The pressure-flow characteristics of the model were analysed using standard pressure-flow diagrams and Moody plots. We found that the asymmetry between inspiratory and expiratory resistances, observed in the central airways (larynx excluded), was markedly reduced in the presence of the larynx. However, static pressure differences were greater across the entire model of the upper and central airways than across the model of the five generations of the tracheo-bronchial tree (without larynx) at the same flow-rates. In addition, our results showed that the presence of the larynx tended to reduce the zone of fully developed laminar flow in the Moody diagram with the higher density gas, while extending the zone of turbulent flow even for the low density gas at low Reynold's numbers.