Section: Application Domains

Respiratory flows

Respiration involves the transport of air through the airways from the mouth to the alveoli of the lungs. These units where diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide take place, are surrounded by a viscoelastic medium (the parenchyma) consisting of blood vessels and collagen fibers. Air flows due to the displacement of the diaphragm, which drives the pulmonary parenchyma. Accidental inhalations of foreign bodies or pathologies such as asthma, emphysema and fibrosis might prevent the lung of fulfilling its function. Therapies mostly use aerosols (set of small particles, solid or liquid), which must reach the specific areas of the lung targeted for treatment. Understanding the airflow mechanisms within the respiratory network is a fundamental ingredient for predicting the particles motion and their deposition (see, e.g., [44]). Moreover, understanding of the gas diffusion in the lung is also of major importance since the main fonction of this organ is to deliver oxygen to the blood.