Abstract
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is one of nasal disorders. In order to develop effective treatment for OSAS it is needed to discuss and survey not only from medical but also engineering points of views. The purpose of this study is to get the knowledge about the OSAS from engineering standpoint. This study made a three-dimensional geometry model of the respiratory organ which includes nasal, pharynx and larynx by means of OSAS patient's CT data, and performed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis for breathing air flow characteristics in respiration process. As the results of the analysis, this study confirmed eddies were generated and transported in all over the respiratory organs. In addition this study made clear that inhalation and exhalation wall share stresses. There were high wall share stress areas on anterior wall in the inhalation process, on the contrary posterior wall in the exhalation process. These characteristics affect on the development mechanism of OSAS.
