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. 2024 May 27;16(6):722.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16060722.

Comparative Analysis of Micrometer-Sized Particle Deposition in the Olfactory Regions of Adult and Pediatric Nasal Cavities: A Computational Study

Ziyu Jin  1   2 , Gang Guo  1 , Aibing Yu  2   3 , Hua Qian  1 , Zhenbo Tong  1
Affiliations

Comparative Analysis of Micrometer-Sized Particle Deposition in the Olfactory Regions of Adult and Pediatric Nasal Cavities: A Computational Study

Ziyu Jin et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

Direct nose-to-brain drug delivery, a promising approach for treating neurological disorders, faces challenges due to anatomical variations between adults and children. This study aims to investigate the spatial particle deposition of micron-sized particles in the nasal cavity among adult and pediatric subjects. This study focuses on the olfactory region considering the effect of intrasubject parameters and particle properties. Two child and two adult nose models were developed based on computed tomography (CT) images, in which the olfactory region of the four nasal cavity models comprises 7% to 10% of the total nasal cavity area. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) coupled with a discrete phase model (DPM) was implemented to simulate the particle transport and deposition. To study the deposition of micrometer-sized drugs in the human nasal cavity during a seated posture, particles with diameters ranging from 1 to 100 μm were considered under a flow rate of 15 LPM. The nasal cavity area of adults is approximately 1.2 to 2 times larger than that of children. The results show that the regional deposition fraction of the olfactory region in all subjects was meager for 1-100 µm particles, with the highest deposition fraction of 5.7%. The deposition fraction of the whole nasal cavity increased with the increasing particle size. Crucially, we identified a correlation between regional deposition distribution and nasal cavity geometry, offering valuable insights for optimizing intranasal drug delivery.

Keywords: CFD (computational fluid dynamics); drug targeting; micrometer-sized particles; nose-to-brain drug delivery; olfactory region.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart from CT data to 3D nasal cavity model construction for numerical simulation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Modeling and segmentation of the nasal cavity model.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Illustration of the nasal cavity grid; (b) validation of grid independence.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Validation of nasal deposition in child and adult: (a) Validation of the child nasal cavity model and (b) Validation of the adult nasal cavity model [20,21,34,38,39].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic diagram of in vitro aerosol deposition setup.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Comparison results between simulation and experiment.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Comparison of geometric dimensions on the cross-section from nostril tip between adults and children: (a) area dimensions; (b) perimeter dimensions; (c) hydraulic diameter.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Velocity distribution across the cross-sectional area in adults and children.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Distribution of nasal cavity velocity streamlines in children and adults.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Schematic illustration of the deposition distribution of particles of different sizes in the nasal cavities of a 10-year-old child and a 31-year-old adult.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Total nasal deposition fraction in adults and children at a flow rate of 15 LPM.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Deposition fraction in various regions for adults and children at a flow rate of 15 LPM: (a) nasal vestibule; (b) turbinate; (c) olfactory region; (d) nasopharynx.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Variation in deposition efficiency in different nasal regions with particle size in adults and children: (a) nasal vestibule; (b) turbinate; (c) olfactory region; (d) nasopharynx.
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