Indicators for the correct usage of intranasal medications: A computational fluid dynamics study

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Nasal Drug Delivery

Background:

• Intranasal medications are crucial for treating nasal diseases.
• Optimal administration techniques for intranasal drugs remain unclear.
• Understanding airflow dynamics is key to improving drug deposition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of inspiratory airflow and head position on intranasal drug delivery.
• To quantify drug particle penetration through the nasal valve (NV) region under various conditions.
• To optimize intranasal medication administration for enhanced therapeutic efficacy.

Main Methods:

• A 3D computational fluid dynamics model of healthy and obstructed nasal cavities was created using MRI data.
• The discrete phase model simulated airflow and particle transport.
• Nasal valve (NV) penetration rate was calculated as the percentage of particles passing the NV region.

Main Results:

• NV penetration was 10-20 times higher with inspiratory airflow compared to no airflow.
• In healthy models, NV penetration ranged from 4.69% to 8.81% with airflow.
• In moderate/severe obstruction models, NV penetration was 0% without airflow.
• Head tilt angles (0-90 degrees) showed no significant difference in NV penetration with inspiratory airflow.

Conclusions:

• Inspiratory airflow is recommended for improving intranasal drug penetration.
• Head positioning does not significantly enhance drug delivery during quiet breathing.
• Further research is needed on turbulence and unsteady airflow for detailed deposition analysis.