Simulation of the human airways using virtual topology tools and meshing optimization.

Area of Science:

• Computational fluid dynamics
• Bioengineering
• Medical imaging

Background:

• Accurate three-dimensional (3D) geometric models of airways are crucial for simulating respiratory mechanics.
• Traditional meshing methods can be time-consuming and may produce suboptimal element quality, impacting simulation accuracy.
• Improving the efficiency and quality of airway model generation is essential for advancing bioengineering applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel method for enhancing the quality of 3D airway geometric models.
• To identify the optimal meshing strategy for reducing computational time and improving element quality.
• To validate the developed method using patient-specific computed tomography (CT) data for realistic simulations.

Main Methods:

• A commercial software was utilized to generate and assess 3D airway models.
• Four different meshing strategies were compared, combining real and virtual topologies with patch-conforming and patch-independent algorithms.
• Key parameters evaluated included the number of elements, meshing time, and element quality metrics (aspect ratio and skewness).

Main Results:

• The combination of virtual topology and a patch-independent meshing algorithm yielded the best results.
• This optimal method achieved excellent element aspect ratio and skewness, alongside minimal meshing time.
• A significant reduction in computational time for both meshing and simulation was observed due to a decreased cell count.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method, particularly using virtual topology with patch-independent meshing, significantly improves 3D airway model quality and efficiency.
• This approach offers a reduction in computational resources required for simulations.
• The technique is applicable to bioengineering and can accurately simulate physiological processes like forced spirometry using patient-specific data.