Numerical prediction of tissue dosimetry in respiratory tract using computer simulated person integrated with physiologically based pharmacokinetic–computational fluid dynamics hybrid analysis

Abstract

Indoor environmental quality, e.g. air quality and thermal environments, has a potential impact on residents in indoors. Development of a computer simulated person (CSP) for indoor computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation can contribute to the improvement of design and prediction method regarding the interaction between indoor air/thermal environmental factors and human responses. In this study, a CSP integrated with a virtual airway was developed and used to estimate inhalation exposure in an indoor environment. The virtual airway is a numerical respiratory tract model for CFD simulation that reproduces detailed geometry from the nasal/oral cavity to the bronchial tubes by way of the trachea. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK)-CFD hybrid analysis is also integrated into the CSP. Through the coupled simulation of PBPK-CFD-CSP analysis, inhalation exposure under steady state conditions where formaldehyde was emitted from floor material was analysed and respiratory tissue doses and their distributions of inhaled contaminants are discussed quantitatively.