Breathing and corona virus damage, IIT Madras new findings
Indian Institute of Technology Madras Researchers have found that the process of virus-laden droplets being transported into deep lung increases with decreasing breathing frequency.
The Research Team modelled the breathing frequency in a laboratory and found that low breathing frequency increases the time of residence of the virus and therefore it increases chances of deposition and consequently the infection. Also, the multiscale lung structure has a significant effect on a person’s susceptibility to COVID-19.
The research was led by Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, with his research scholars Mr. Arnab Kumar Mallik and Mr. Soumalya Mukherjee, IIT Madras. The findings of this study were published in the international reputed peer-reviewed journal Physics of Fluids.
Elaborating on the need for such research, Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, said, “COVID-19 (the disease caused by Coronavirus) has opened a gap in our understanding of deep pulmonological systemic diseases. Our study unravels the mystery behind how particles are transported and deposited in the deep lung. The study demonstrates the physical process by which aerosol particles are transported into the deep generations of the lung.”
Prof. Mahesh V. Panchagnula’s team worked to gain a deeper understanding of how the rate of flow of droplet laden with virus determines the deposition of the virus in the lungs. In their research, the team reported that holding the breath and having low breathing rate can increase chances of virus deposition in the lungs. They took water mixed with fluorescent particles and generated aerosols from this liquid using a nebulizer. These fluorescent aerosols were used to track the movement and deposition of particles in the capillaries.
The researchers studied the movement of the fluorescent aerosol particles in capillaries of size ranging from 0.3 to 2 millimetres which covers the range of bronchiole diameters. They found that the deposition is inversely proportional to the aspect ratio of capillaries, which suggests that the droplets are likely to deposit in longer bronchioles.
TV BRICS reports with reference to Trinity Mirror.
