Faculty Collaboration Database

Toward personalized nasal surgery using computational fluid dynamics. Arch Facial Plast Surg 2011;13(5):305-10

Date

04/20/2011

Pubmed ID

21502467

Pubmed Central ID

PMC3560572

DOI

10.1001/archfacial.2011.18

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-80155135811 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   87 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether virtual surgery performed on 3-dimensional (3D) nasal airway models can predict postsurgical, biophysical parameters obtained by computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

METHODS: Presurgery and postsurgery computed tomographic scans of a patient undergoing septoplasty and right inferior turbinate reduction (ITR) were used to generate 3D models of the nasal airway. Prior to obtaining the postsurgery scan, the presurgery model was digitally altered to generate 3 virtual surgery models: (1) right ITR only, (2) septoplasty only, and (3) septoplasty with right ITR. The results of the virtual surgery CFD analyses were compared with postsurgical CFD outcome measures including nasal resistance, unilateral airflow allocation, and regional airflow distribution.

RESULTS: Postsurgery CFD analysis and all virtual surgery models predicted similar reductions in overall nasal resistance, as well as more balanced airflow distribution between sides, primarily in the middle region, when compared with the presurgery state. In contrast, virtual ITR alone produced little change in either nasal resistance or regional airflow allocation.

CONCLUSIONS: We present an innovative approach for assessing functional outcomes of nasal surgery using CFD techniques. This preliminary study suggests that virtual nasal surgery has the potential to be a predictive tool that will enable surgeons to perform personalized nasal surgery using computer simulation techniques. Further investigation involving correlation of patient-reported measures with CFD outcome measures in multiple individuals is under way.

Author List

Rhee JS, Pawar SS, Garcia GJ, Kimbell JS

Authors

Guilherme Garcia PhD Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Sachin S. Pawar MD Chief, Associate Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
John S. Rhee MD Chair, Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Airway Resistance
Computer Simulation
Female
Humans
Nasal Obstruction
Nasal Septum
Pulmonary Ventilation
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Turbinates
User-Computer Interface