Julia Kimbell

Dept. of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, 
UNC Chapel Hill

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations to Study Surgery and Drug 
Delivery in the Nasal Passages

Abstract:

Wouldn't it be extremely useful if doctors could predict the likely 
outcomes of nasal surgical procedures before the actual surgery?  
Wouldn't it be good if topical medications like steroids and antibiotics 
were tailored to give you the most benefit when treating sinus disease?  
These are some of the questions that researchers at the Dept. of 
Otolaryngology at UNC are exploring using computational fluid dynamics 
(CFD) techniques in models of the nasal passages that they reconstruct 
from CT scans.  This talk will give an overview of this research, with 
examples of model creation, simulation, and results analysis, and 
provide a glimpse of the enormous promise that CFD modeling has for 
optimizing treatment of upper airway concerns.