Abstract
The number of patients with chronic respiratory deficiency, such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Sleep Apnea syndrome, is increasing. For patients with comparatively serious symptoms, the Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation (NPPV) may be prescribed. However, pressure necrosis or anaclisis could affect treatment by occurring at the contact area of nasal mask. In response to this problem, the construction of a simulation environment can be applied. This personal simulation model was created based on these measurement results and the interpolation results using the Free-form-deformation technique. A fundamental numerical analysis was performed, and Von Mises stress distribution was shown when the NPPV nasal mask made contact with the face. It is shown that the maximum stress can be decreased by 19.4% compared with the cases of standard mask. In conclusion, by using this system, the shape of a nasal mask suitable for each patient can be determined.
