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of the airways, which signifi cantly affects the airfl ow. CFD can serve as
an effective tool in clarifying the fl ow patterns in the airways of patients
suffering from this disease and may provide useful information regarding
treatment (Yang et al., 2006). Differences in the anatomy of the nasal
cavity may cause differences in the airfl ow, which may further affect the
amount of inhaled gases and particles. Also, certain types of nasal
morphology can result in increased fl ow to the olfactory region, and
potentially increased risk of transport to the brain via the olfactory nerve,
which indicates the need for more extensive tests to obtain more
information on the variability of air distribution. CFD seems to be a
useful tool in the study of inter-individual differences in nasal air
distribution, and therefore individual sensitivity to inhaled gases and
particles (Segal et al., 2008). The infl uence of post-surgical changes of
nasal anatomy on airfl ow characteristics was also investigated numerically
using CFD, which might be a relatively fast and effi cient approach in
surgical planning (Na et al., 2012).
Considering the growing research interest in pharmaceutical
applications of CFD, the aim of this chapter is to provide an overview
of recent scientifi c results and to give an insight into the possibilities
for application in this fi eld. This chapter aims to provide the reader with
a brief theoretical background and basic terminology related to CFD
methods, without going into details of mathematics and numerical
algorithms. Being primarily intended for researchers working in the
fi eld of pharmaceutical technology, we will focus on possible applications
of this technique in testing and optimization of manufacturing
processes, device/equipment performance, effectiveness of drug delivery
systems, etc.
7.2 Theoretical background
CFD is an area of fl uid dynamics that deals with fi nding numerical
solutions to equations describing the fl uid fl ow to obtain a numerical
description of the entire fl ow fi eld. CFD offers signifi cant time and
cost savings, as well as comprehensive information about fl uid fl ow
in the investigated system, whereas experimental methods are limited
to measurements at certain locations in the system. Moreover,
numerical simulations allow testing of the system under conditions
in which it is not possible or is diffi cult to perform experimental tests.
In accordance with the applicability and advantages offered by
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