Effect of random airway sizes on aerosol deposition.

A previously developed deposition model is used to determine the total and regional deposition of inhaled aerosols in a population of human lungs by taking into account variability in airway dimensions. The results for particle sizes ranging from 0.1 micron to 8 micron aerodynamic diameter agree favorably with experimental data, thus suggesting that observed intersubject deposition variability is caused primarily by difference in airway dimensions.