Are we are doing it right?: benchmarking simulations of regional aerosol deposition in the lungs.

What is it about?

Through a collaborative effort that is taking place within COST ACTION MP1404 - "SimInhale" we have put together a reference case that include both experiments (in vitro) and computer simulations (in silico) of the same case: steady inhalation rate of aerosol particles from an adult. We look at the details of the flowfield and the places in the extrathoracic and upper bronchial airways where the particle deposit. A variety of computational approaches have been used by several groups and the results are compared to the experiments in an effort to identify the strengths and weaknesses and to offer best practice guidelines. We plan to make the benchmark case available online, the details will be announced soon, once arrangements are completed.

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Why is it important?

While in silico methods (computer simulations) are emerging as an important tool for the determination of regional deposition, mainly in the context inhaled drugs development, there is a large disparity in terms of the approaches used, the quality control practiced and the quality of the results. Thus, it is important to provide carefully constructed references cases that can be used by various groups around the world to test their own codes. As a community we need to reach a consensus on best practice in the field of in silico methods of lung deposition. This is work in a small step in that direction.

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