In-vitro study of pharyngeal pressure losses at the origin of obstructive sleep apnea

Annemie van Hirtum (1) , Franz Chouly (2) , A. Teulé (1) , Yohan Payan (3) , Xavier Pelorson (1)

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

This paper presents an in-vitro experimental and theoretical study of pharyngeal airflow at the origin of obstructive sleep apnea. The air flow rate and pressure along a geometrical constriction are predicted from the upstream pressure and geometry. Quantitative results are validated for rigid 'in-vitro' replicas. The influence of asymmetry is discussed.

Mots clés: finite element; Sleep Apnea Syndrome; physical models; fluid structure interaction

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

Annemie van Hirtum, Franz Chouly, A. Teulé, Yohan Payan, Xavier Pelorson. In-vitro study of pharyngeal pressure losses at the origin of obstructive sleep apnea. 25th Annual Intemational Conference of the IEEE EMBS, Sep 2003, Cancun, Mexico. pp.371-374, ⟨10.1109/IEMBS.2003.1279665⟩. ⟨hal-00108988⟩