Objectives: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the upper airway (oral and/or nasal) with different inhalation speeds and obstruction depths to generate remarkable notes on palatal snoring and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Another important aspect is to study different soft palate biomechanical properties and their relationships with different physical parameters on palatal snoring and OSA.
Methods: The human upper-airway is modelled in 2D, and a cantilever plate model principle is adopted for the soft palate during fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations. Various scenarios are investigated under different inhalation speeds to characterize palatal snoring and OSA in terms of relevant physical parameters.
Results: The parameters most prone for palatal snoring and OSA are obtained for soft material, the highest obstruction depth, and oral inhalation. Also, it is shown that the biomechanical properties of the human upper airway are the most sensitive parameters affecting the dynamics of the soft palate.
Conclusions: The numerical modeling approach presented allows a better understanding of palatal snoring and may be useful for confirming clinical results as well as for further design of new treatments and therapies.
Keywords: FSI; human upper airway; obstruction sleep apnea; palatal snoring.
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