Development of a numerical simulator of human swallowing using a particle method (Part 1. Preliminary evaluation of the possibility of numerical simulation using the MPS method)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possibility of numerical simulation of the swallowing process using a moving particle simulation (MPS) method, which defined the food bolus as a number of particles in a fluid, a solid, and an elastic body. In order to verify the accuracy of the simulation results, a simple water bolus falling model was solved using the three-dimensional (3D) MPS method. We also examined the simplified swallowing simulation using a two-dimensional (2D) MPS method to confirm the interactions between the liquid, solid, elastic bolus, and organ structure. In a comparison of the 3D MPS simulation and experiments, the falling time of the water bolus and the configuration of the interface between the liquid and air corresponded exactly to the experimental measurements and the visualization images. The results showed that the accuracy of the 3D MPS simulation was qualitatively high for the simple falling model. Based on the results of the simplified swallowing simulation using the 2D MPS method, each bolus, defined as a liquid, solid, and elastic body, exhibited different behavior when the organs were transformed forcedly. This confirmed that the MPS method could be used for coupled simulations of the fluid, the solid, the elastic body, and the organ structures. The results suggested that the MPS method could be used to develop a numerical simulator of the swallowing process.