[Effect of endoscopic sinus surgery on airflow of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses: a computational fluid dynamics study.].

Objective: To study the airflow velocity, trace, distribution, pressure, as well as the airflow exchange between the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in a computer simulation of nasal cavity pre and post virtual endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS).

Methods: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was applied to construct an anatomically and proportionally accurate three-dimensional nasal model based on a healthy adult woman's nasal CT scans. A virtual ESS intervention was performed numerically on the normal nasal model using Fluent 6.

[Influence of uncinate process on aerodynamic characteristics of nasal cavity and maxillary sinus].

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the influence of uncinate process on air flow velocity, trace, distribution, air pressure, as well as the air flow exchange of nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses.

Methods: Fluent software was used to simulate two nasal cavity and paranasal sinus structures following CT scanning, one had normal nasal cavity, the another had the nasal cavity with uncinate process removed. Air flow velocity, pressure, distribution and trace lines were calculated and compared by Navier-Stokes equation and numerically visualized between two models.

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of airflow in the normal nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses.

Background: This study aimed to investigate airflow velocity, trace, distribution, and air pressure, as well as the airflow exchange between the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus in a normal subject using computational fluid dynamics.

Methods: Fluent software is used to simulate nasal cavity and paranasal sinus structure after CT scanning of a normal adult subject. Airflow velocity, pressure, distribution, and trace lines were calculated by Navier-Stokes equation and numerically visualized.