Effect of intersubject variability of extrathoracic morphometry, lung airways dimensions and respiratory parameters on particle deposition.

OBJECTIVE: The structure of extrathoracic passages, variability of tracheobronchial (TB) airways and alveolar dimensions and individual variations of breathing pattern exhibit significant intersubject variations, which affect extrathoracic deposition and, in further consequence, the fraction of inhaled particles actually reaching the thoracic region. The present study was conducted to quantify the intersubject variability of lung deposition fractions caused by the fluctuations in these three major sources of intersubject variability.
METHODS: To quantify intersubject variability of extrathoracic, thoracic and total deposition fractions (TDF), different combinations of the three sources of variability were simulated to identify the most important factors. Deposition fractions of inhaled particles were computed by the stochastic airway generation model IDEAL. The dimensions of the respiratory airways were scaled in proportion to age and height of the subject to calculate TDFs.
RESULTS: The variability of deposition fractions increased with the stepwise addition of influencing factors and the resulting standard deviations ranged up to 30%. While some combinations enhanced the effects of individual factors on deposition by up to 40%, others seemed to compensate each other with only a minor effect on deposition.
CONCLUSION: The present study attempts to quantify experimentally observed intersubject variability of regional deposition fractions caused by individual variations of nasal and oral geometry, lung airway dimensions and breathing patterns in healthy lungs, serving as a baseline for subsequent calculations for diseased lungs, e.g. asthma, COPD, and emphysema, which may further increase intersubject variabilities of medically relevant depositions.