A theoretical study of chemical delivery within the lung using exogenous surfactant.

A mathematical model is developed for lung injury treatments involving the delivery of therapeutic chemicals, such as drugs and gene vectors, into the lung using simultaneous tracheal instillation of exogenous pulmonary surfactant. The influence of exogenous surfactant dose, flow rate, bulk liquid viscosity, pulmonary absorption rate and chemical molecular diffusivity on the chemical delivery to the lung is investigated. Our results reveal that different pulmonary absorption rates lead to significantly different distribution patterns and change the time taken for the total amount of chemical to be absorbed along the airways. The various factors can also influence where the majority of the chemical is placed within the lung and this is relevant to the targeting of drugs to particular lung generations.