Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Fluid-Structure-Sound Interactions and Control pp 301–317Cite as

Flow and Sound Generation in Human Lungs: Models of Wheezes and Crackles

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering ((LNME))

Abstract

We present a broad review of our laboratory’s contributions to the understanding of flow generated sounds which emanate from the lung and are used by clinicians to ascertain the status of health of the respiratory system. Important sounds from diseased lungs include wheezing, which occurs primarily during expiration, and crackles which occur primarily during inspiration. We have analyzed flow-induced flutter of flexible tubes as the mechanism of wheezing sounds and connected its appearance to the onset of flow limitation in a lung. Wheezes and difficulty expiring air are common to asthma and emphysema. The flutter theory is for both linear and nonlinear wall properties, while using potential flow with a friction factor as well as a coupled Orr-Sommerfeld system using the Navier–Stokes equations coupled to the wall. Both the value of the critical flow velocity that instigates flutter, as well as the flutter frequency, compares well with experiments on isolated flexible tubes as well as an excised lung. We also studied the propagation and rupture of simulated mucus plugs using carbopol 940 gels to investigate the source of crackling sounds which occur in lungs with an abnormal amount of liquid in the airways, congestive heart failure, or small airway inflammation. The non-Newtonian properties of yield stress, storage modulus, and loss modulus were matched well with normal and abnormal mucus. A collapsed airway of the 12th generation was modeled using a quasi-two-dimensional polydimethylsiloxane channel. The plug yields at a plane about one-third of the half channel width away from the lateral channel walls and then ruptures, creating a crackle sound, and reopening the model airway to gas flow. The relatively high shear stresses during rupture, and crackle sound production, may increase epithelial cell damage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Baek G, Kim S, Han J, Kim C (2011) Atomization characteristics of impinging jets of gel material containing nanoparticles. J Nonnewton Fluid Mech 166(21–22):1272–1285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balmforth NJ, Dubash N, Slim AC (2010) Extensional dynamics of viscoplastic filaments: II. Drips and bridges. J Nonnewton Fluid Mech 165(19–20):1147–1160

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bian S, Tai CF, Halpern D, Zheng Y, Grotberg JB (2010) Experimental study of flow fields in an airway closure model. J Fluid Mech 647:391–402

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bilek AM, Dee KC, Gaver DP (2003) Mechanisms of surface-tension-induced epithelial cell damage in a model of pulmonary airway reopening. J Appl Physiol 94(2):770–783

    Google Scholar 

  • Carnielli VP, Zimmermann LJI, Hamvas A, Cogo PE (2009) Pulmonary surfactant kinetics of the newborn infant: novel insights from studies with stable isotopes. J Perinatol 29:S29–S37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox WP, Merz EH (1958) Correlation of dynamic and steady flow viscosities. J Poly Sci 28(118):619–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis SS (1973) Rheological examination of sputum and saliva and the effect of drugs. In: Gabelnick HL, Litt M (ed) Rheology of Biological Systems. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas pp 157–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson M, Wirtz D, Hanes J (2003) Enhanced viscoelasticity of human cystic fibrotic sputum correlates with increasing microheterogeneity in particle transport. J Biol Chem 278(50):50393–50401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Even-Tzur N, Kloog Y, Wolf M, Elad D (2008) Mucus secretion and cytoskeletal modifications in cultured nasal epithelial cells exposed to wall shear stresses. Biophys J 95(6):2998–3008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujioka H, Grotberg JB (2004) Steady propagation of a liquid plug in a two-dimensional channel. J Biomech Eng 126(5):567–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gavriely N, Palti Y, Alroy G, Grotberg JB (1984) Measurement and theory of wheezing breath sounds. J Appl Physiol 57(2):481–492

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavriely N, Kelly KB, Grotberg JB, Loring SH (1987) Forced expiratory wheezes are a manifestation of airway flow limitation. J Appl Physiol 62(6):2398–2403

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavriely N, Grotberg JB (1988) Flow limitation and wheezes in a constant flow and volume lung preparation. J Appl Physiol 64(1):17–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavriely N, Kelly KB, Grotberg JB, Loring SH (1989a) Critical pressures required for generation of forced expiratory wheezes. J Appl Physiol 66(3):1136–1142

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavriely N, Shee TR, Cugell DW, Grotberg JB (1989b) Flutter in flow-limited collapsible tubes: a mechanism for generation of wheezes. J Appl Physiol 66(5):2251–2261

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomez C, Derakhshandeh B, Hatzikiriakos SG, Bennington CPJ (2010) Carbopol as a model fluid for studying mixing of pulp fibre suspensions. Chem Eng Sci 65(3):1288–1295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grotberg JB, Davis SH (1980) Fluid-dynamic flapping of a collapsible channel: sound generation and flow limitation. J Biomech 13(3):219–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grotberg JB, Reiss EL (1984) Subsonic flapping flutter. J Sound Vib 92(3):349–361

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Grotberg JB, Gavriely N (1989) Flutter in collapsible tubes: a theoretical model of wheezes. J Appl Physiol 66:2262–2273

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassan EA, Uzgoren E, Fujioka H, Grotberg JB, Shyy W (2011) Adaptive Lagrangian-Eulerian computation of propagation and rupture of a liquid plug in a tube. Int J Numer Meth Fluids 67(11):1373–1392

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Huh D, Fujioka H, Tung YC, Futai N, Paine R, Grotberg JB, et al. (2007) Acoustically detectable cellular-level lung injury induced by fluid mechanical stresses in microfluidic airway systems. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104:18886–18891. PMCID: PMC2141877

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanneret-Grosjean A, King M, Michoud MC, Liote H, Amyot R (1988) Sampling technique and rheology of human tracheo-bronchial mucus. Am Rev Respiratory Disease 137(3):707–710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kant S, Verma S, Sanjay (2007) Complete left lung collapse secondary to mucus plug in COPD patient. Pulmon 9(1):35–36

    Google Scholar 

  • King M (2006) Physiology of mucus clearance. Paediatr Respir Rev 7:S212–S214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuyper L, Pare P, Hogg J, Lambert R, Ionescu D, Woods R et al (2003) Characterization of airway plugging in fatal asthma. Am J Med 115(1):6–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lai SK, Wang Y–Y, Wirtz D, Hanes J (2009) Micro-and macrorheology of mucus. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 61(2):86–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larose PG, Grotberg JB (1997) Flutter and long wave instabilities in compliant channels conveying developing flows. J Fluid Mech 331:37–58

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Oppong FK, de Bruyn JR (2011) Mircorheology and jamming in a yield-stress fluid. Rheol Acta 50(4):317–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ragavan AJ, Evrensel CA, Krumpe P (2010) Interactions of airflow oscillation, tracheal inclination, and mucus elasticity significantly improve simulated cough clearance. Chest 137(2):355–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rancourt RC, Tai SS, King M, Heltshe SL, Penvari C, Accurso FJ et al (2004) Thioredoxin liquefies and decreases the viscoelasticity of cystic fibrosis sputum. Am J Physiol-Lung Cellular Molecular Physiol 286(5):L931–L938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin BK, Finegan B, Ramirez O, King M (1990) General-anesthesia does not alter the viscoelastic or transport properties of human resiratory mucus. Chest 98(1):101–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serisier DJ, Carroll MP, Shute JK, Young SA (2009) Macrorheology of cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and normal sputum. Respiratory Research 10

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro AH (1977) Steady flow in collapsible tubes. J Biomech Eng 99:126–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tai CF, Bian S, Halpern D, Zheng Y, Filoche M, Grotberg JB (2011) Numerical study of flow fields in an airway closure model. J Fluid Mech 677:483–502

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Willson DF, Notter RH (2011) The future of exogenous surfactant therapy. Respiratory Care 56(9):1369–1386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeates DB BG, Wong LB (1997) Physicochemical properties of mucus and its propulsion. In: Crystal RG WJ, Weibel ER et al. (ed) The Lung: Scientific Foundations. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven pp 487–503

    Google Scholar 

  • Zamankhan P, Helenbrook BT, Takayama S, Grotberg JB (2011) Steady motion of Bingham liquid plugs in two-dimensional channels. J Fluid Mech. doi:10.1017/jfm.2011.438

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by NIH grants: HL84370 and HL85156. The authors are particularly grateful to Dr. Parsa Zamankhan, Dr. Cheng-Feng Tai, and Yi-Cheng Chen in the Grotberg lab for helpful discussions. We are grateful to the lab of Dr. Michael J. Solomon of the University of Michigan for use and instruction of their rheometer.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, US

    Yingying Hu, Shiyao Bian, Marcel Filoche, Joshua White, Shuichi Takayama & James B. Grotberg

  2. Physique de la Matière Condensée, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, 91128, Palaiseau, France

    Marcel Filoche

  3. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, US

    John C. Grotberg

Authors
  1. Yingying Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shiyao Bian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcel Filoche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. John C. Grotberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Joshua White
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Shuichi Takayama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. James B. Grotberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James B. Grotberg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China

    Yu Zhou

  2. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China

    Yang Liu

  3. The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China

    Lixi Huang

  4. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dewey H. Hodges

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Hu, Y. et al. (2014). Flow and Sound Generation in Human Lungs: Models of Wheezes and Crackles. In: Zhou, Y., Liu, Y., Huang, L., Hodges, D. (eds) Fluid-Structure-Sound Interactions and Control. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40371-2_44

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40371-2_44

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-40370-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40371-2

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation