Targeted delivery of inhalable drug particles in the tracheobronchial tree model of a pediatric patient with bronchopneumonia: A numerical study

Jianwei Wang; Ya Zhang; Xiaole Chen; Feng Tao; Baobin Sun; Jun Xie; Jingguo Chen

doi:10.1016/j.resp.2023.104024

Targeted delivery of inhalable drug particles in the tracheobronchial tree model of a pediatric patient with bronchopneumonia: A numerical study

Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2023 May:311:104024. doi: 10.1016/j.resp.2023.104024. Epub 2023 Jan 31.

Authors

Jianwei Wang¹, Ya Zhang², Xiaole Chen³, Feng Tao⁴, Baobin Sun⁴, Jun Xie¹, Jingguo Chen²

Affiliations

¹ School of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China.
² Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, China.
³ School of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China. Electronic address: xlc@njnu.edu.cn.
⁴ Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210009, China.

PMID: 36731709
DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2023.104024

Abstract

Pneumonia is a common cause of hospitalization and death in children worldwide. Inhalation therapy is one of the methods treating pneumonia However, there are limited studies that distinguish between the physiology of children and adults, especially with respect to targeted drug delivery. A tracheobronchial (TB) tree model of an 11-year-old child with bronchopneumonia is selected as a testbed for in silico trials of targeted drug delivery. The airflow and particle transport are solved by the computational fluid dynamics method at an airflow rate of 15 LPM. The results indicate that the distribution of deposited particles shows aggregation on the particle release map. Point-source aerosol release (PSAR) method can significantly reduce the deposition efficiency (DE) of particles in the TB tree model. Specifically, the PSAR method can reduce the DE of large particles (i.e., 7.5 µm and 10 µm) by 7.57% and 9.61%, respectively. This enables rapid design of patient-specific treatment for different population age groups and different airway diseases.

Keywords: Bronchopneumonia; Children; Drug particles; Targeted drug delivery; Tracheobronchial tree.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Administration, Inhalation
Adult
Bronchi
Bronchopneumonia*
Child
Computer Simulation
Humans
Lung
Models, Biological
Particle Size
Pharmaceutical Preparations
Respiratory Aerosols and Droplets

Substances

Pharmaceutical Preparations