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For more information on the Respiratory Biomechanics Laboratory, contact Dr. Guilherme Garcia.
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Respiratory Drug Delivery
The Airway Lab investigates respiratory drug delivery to quantify the regional doses of aerosol medications delivered to different parts of the respiratory tract. Examples of aerosol medications include nasal sprays for chronic rhinosinusitis and dry powder inhalers for asthma. The dosimetry of inhaled particles and gases in the human respiratory tract also has applications in toxicology. For example, inhaled nanoparticles that deposit in the olfactory cleft of the nasal cavity are known to migrate to the brain through the olfactory bulb where they can cause neurotoxicity. This route of exposure has been proposed as a mechanism behind the correlation between air pollution and human neurodegenerative diseases.
Figure: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the human upper airway, including a dry powder inhaler used to treat asthma.
Related Videos
Airflow Patterns During Oral Inhalation
Pressure Field During Oral Inhalation
Deposition of Drug Particles After Oral Inhalation
Selected Publications
Lesnick A., Samuels T.L., Seabloom D., Wuertz B., Ojha A., Seelig D., Ondrey F., Wiedmann T.S., Hogan C., Torii E., Ouyang H., Yan K., Garcia G.J.M., Bock J.M., Johnston N. (2024) Inhaled fosamprenavir for laryngopharyngeal reflux: Toxicology and fluid dynamics modeling. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology 9, e1219.
Kimbell J.S., Garcia G.J.M., Schroeter J.D., Sheth P., Vallorz E.L., Saluja B., Babiskin A.H., Tian G., Walenga R.L. (2023) Nasal steroid spray simulations using measured spray characteristics in healthy and rhinitic nasal passages. Journal of Aerosol Science 174, 106246.
Basu S., Holbrook L.T., Kudlaty K., Fasanmade O., Wu J., Burke A., Langworthy B., Farzal Z., Mamdani M., Bennett W.D., Fine J.P., Senior B.A., Zanation A.M., Ebert C.S., Kimple A.J., Thorp B.D., Frank-Ito D.O., Garcia G.J.M., Kimbell J.S. (2020) Numerical evaluation of spray position for improved nasal drug delivery. Scientific Reports 10, 10568.
Garcia G.J.M., Schroeter J.D., Kimbell J.S. (2015) Olfactory deposition of inhaled nanoparticles in humans. Inhalation Toxicology 27, 394–403.
Schroeter J.D., Garcia G.J.M., Kimbell J.S. (2011) Effects of Surface Smoothness on Inertial Particle Deposition in Human Nasal Models. Journal of Aerosol Science 42, 52–63.
Garcia G.J.M., Kimbell J.S. (2009) Deposition of inhaled nanoparticles in the rat nasal passages: dose to the olfactory region. Inhalation Toxicology 21, 1165–1175.
Garcia G.J.M., Tewksbury E.W., Wong B.A., Kimbell J.S. (2009) Interindividual variability in nasal filtration as a function of nasal cavity geometry. Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery 22, 139–155.
