Reproduction of hypopnea phenomenon using a physical and numerical model

Franz Chouly (1) , Annemie van Hirtum (2) , Pierre-Yves Lagrée (3) , Xavier Pelorson (2) , Yohan Payan (4)

1 TIMC-IMAG - Techniques de l'Ingénierie Médicale et de la Complexité - Informatique, Mathématiques et Applications, Grenoble - UMR 5525
2 ICP - Institut de la communication parlée
3 LMM - Laboratoire de modélisation en mécanique
4 TIMC-IMAG-GMCAO - Gestes Medico-chirurgicaux Assistés par Ordinateur

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is now considered as a major health care topic. An in-vitro setup which reproduces and simplifies upper airway geometry has been the basis to study the fluid/walls interaction that leads to an apnea. It consists of a rigid pipe (the pharynx) in contact with a deformable latex cylinder filled with water (the tongue). Air flows out of the rigid pipe and induces pressure forces on the cylinder. We present a numerical model of this setup: a finite element model of the latex cylinder is in interaction with a fluid model. Simulation of an hypopnea (partial collapsus of the airway) has been possible and in agreement with observations from the in-vitro setup. The same phenomenon has been simulated on a soft palate model obtained from a patient sagittal radiography. These first results encourage us to improve the model so as it could reproduce the complete apnea phenomenon, and be used for a planification purpose in sleep apnea surgery.

Mots clés: Sleep Anea Syndrome; fluid structure interaction; finite element model; simulations

Domaines: Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]; Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]; Ingénierie biomédicale

Franz Chouly, Annemie van Hirtum, Pierre-Yves Lagrée, Xavier Pelorson, Yohan Payan. Reproduction of hypopnea phenomenon using a physical and numerical model. 2004, pp.1-6. ⟨hal-00108703⟩