Numerical Simulations of Inspiratory Airflow in Human Nasal Cavity and Statistic Study of Its Characteristic Dimension

30 three-dimensional, anatomically accurate representations of adult human nasal cavity models were reconstructed based on computed tomography medical images collected from thirty normal people who all came from Northeast China. The airflow rate was supposed to change linearly with time in a respiration periods. The Navier-Stokes and continuity equations for airflow were solved using the finite element method under respiratory conditions which simulating rest and light exercise with the fluid dynamics software package ANSYS. The pressure drop and the velocity distribution of airflow in flow field were presented quantitatively. The characteristic dimensions of the nasal strictures which could properly represent the original model were extracted and statistically analyzed was done to these characteristic dimensions. This method can give us a way to distinguish types of nasal cavities of people from different nations or regions.