Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
Cardio-Respiratory Engineering and Technology Laboratory (CREATElab), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, VIC 3004, Australia.
Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 2022 Dec;227:107223. doi: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2022.107223. Epub 2022 Nov 9.
Nasal saline irrigation is a common therapy for inflammatory nasal and paranasal disease or for managing post nasal and sinus surgery recovery. Two common irrigation devices include the netipot and squeeze bottles, where anecdotally, these devices alleviate congestion, facial pain, and pressure. However, a quantitative evaluation of these devices' performance and the fluid dynamics responsible for the irrigation distribution through the nose is lacking. This study tracked the liquid surface coverage and wall shear stresses during nasal saline irrigation produced from a Neti Pot and squeeze bottle.
This study used transient computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to investigate the saline irrigation flow field in a subject-specific sinonasal model. The computational nasal cavity model was constructed from a high-resolution computed tomography scan (CT). The irrigation procedure applied a head position tilted at 90° forward using an 80 ml squeeze bottle and 120 ml Neti Pot.
The results from a single sinonasal model demonstrated that the Neti Pot irrigation was more effective in delivering saline solution to the nasal cavity on the contralateral side of irrigation due to typically larger volumes but at the expense of reduced flow and shearing rates, as the flow entered under gravitational forces. The squeeze bottle irrigation provided greater surface coverage on the side of irrigation.
The results from the single patient model, demonstrated the Neti Pot increased surface coverage in the paranasal sinuses. Reducing the jet diameter may aid the direct targeting of a specific region at the side of irrigation by preventing the impingement of the jet to the nasal passage surface and redirection of the flow. Evaluating this performance across a wider cohort of patients can strengthen the findings.
鼻腔盐水冲洗是治疗鼻腔和鼻旁窦炎症或管理鼻后滴注和鼻窦手术后恢复的常见疗法。两种常见的冲洗装置包括鼻腔冲洗器和挤压瓶，据报道，这些装置可以缓解鼻塞、面部疼痛和压力。然而，这些装置的性能以及负责通过鼻腔分配冲洗液的流体动力学的定量评估还很缺乏。本研究跟踪了鼻腔盐水冲洗时从鼻腔冲洗器和挤压瓶产生的液体表面覆盖范围和壁面剪切应力。
本研究使用瞬态计算流体动力学（CFD）模拟来研究特定于个体的鼻-鼻窦模型中的盐水冲洗流场。计算鼻腔模型是由高分辨率计算机断层扫描（CT）构建的。冲洗过程使用 80ml 挤压瓶和 120ml 鼻腔冲洗器将头部倾斜 90°向前倾斜。
来自单个鼻-鼻窦模型的结果表明，由于通常较大的体积，鼻腔冲洗器冲洗更有效地将盐水溶液输送到对侧的鼻腔，但其代价是流量和剪切率降低，因为水流是在重力作用下进入的。挤压瓶冲洗在冲洗侧提供了更大的表面覆盖范围。
来自单个患者模型的结果表明，鼻腔冲洗器增加了副鼻窦的表面覆盖范围。减小射流直径可能有助于通过防止射流撞击鼻腔通道表面并改变流路，从而直接针对冲洗侧的特定区域。在更广泛的患者群体中评估这种性能可以加强研究结果。
