Abstract: Understanding of airflow characteristics in nasal cavity is closely
related with the physiological functions, like air-conditioning and smelling,
and pathological aspects in nasal breathing. Several studies have utilized
physical models of the healthy nasal cavity to investigate the relationship
between nasal anatomy and airflow. The next step on this topic is naturally
studies for disordered nasal airways and this is the main purpose of this
article. Airflows in the pathological nasal airways, including nasal cavity and
upper pharynx, of Korean adults are investigated experimentally by PIV
measurement technique and air resistance measurements. Quantitative data for
normal and pathological nasal airway are obtained. Average and RMS velocity
distributions are obtained for inspirational and expirational nasal airflows.
The CBC PIV algorithm with window offset is used for PIV flow analysis. PIV
measurements of nasal airflow for nasal cavities with 50% and 70% adenoid
vegetation are conducted for the first time. The asymmetric nasal cavities, due
to either congenital deformity or injury, are also investigated. Comparisons in
nasal airflows for both normal and abnormal cases are also appreciated and
airflow characteristics that are related with the abnormalities in nasal cavity
are proposed.