Analysis of microparticle deposition in the human lung by taguchi method and response surface methodology

Chen WH 1 , Chang CM 2 , Mutuku JK 3 , Lam SS 4 , Lee WJ 5

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 701, Taiwan; Research Center for Smart Sustainable Circular Economy, Tunghai University, Taichung, 407, Taiwan; Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung, 411, Taiwan. Electronic address: [email protected]
  • 2 Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 701, Taiwan; International Master Degree Program on Energy Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taina, Taiwan
  • 3 Center for Environmental Toxin and Emerging-Contaminant Research, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung, 833, Taiwan; Super Micro Research and Technology Center, Cheng Shiu University, Taiwan; Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
  • 4 Pyrolysis Technology Research Group, Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Henan Province Engineering Research Center for Biomass Value-Added Products, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450002, China
  • 5 Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
Environ Res, 2021 06;197:110975.
PMID: 33689824 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110975

Abstract

The deposition phenomenon of microparticle and SAR-CoV-2 laced bioaerosol in human airways is studied by Taguchi methods and response surface methodology (RSM). The data used herein is obtained from simulations of airflow dynamics and deposition fractions of drug particle aerosols in the downstream airways of asthma patients using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete particle motion (DPM). Three main parameters, including airflow rate, drug dose, and particle size, affecting aerosol deposition in the lungs of asthma patients are examined. The highest deposition fraction (DF) is obtained at the flow rate of 45 L min-1, the drug dose of 200 μg·puff-1, and the particle diameter of 5 μm. The optimized combination of levels for the three parameters for maximum drug deposition is performed via the Taguchi method. The importance of the influencing factors rank as particle size > drug dose > flow rate. RSM reveals that the combination of 30 L min-1, 5 μm, 200 μg·puff- has the highest deposition fraction. In part, this research also studied the deposition of bioaerosols contaminated with the SAR-CoV-2 virus, and their lowest DF is 1.15%. The low DF of bioaerosols reduces the probability of the SAR-CoV-2 virus transmission.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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