Physical and Geometric Constraints Shape the Labyrinth-Like Nasal Cavity
Physical and geometric constraints shape the labyrinth-like nasal cavity David Zwickera,b,1, Rodolfo Ostilla-Monico´ a,b, Daniel E. Liebermanc, and Michael P. Brennera,b aJohn A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; bKavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138; and cDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 Edited by Leslie Greengard, New York University, New York, NY, and approved January 26, 2018 (received for review August 29, 2017) The nasal cavity is a vital component of the respiratory system take into account geometric constraints imposed by the shape that heats and humidifies inhaled air in all vertebrates. Despite of the head that determine the length of the nasal cavity, its this common function, the shapes of nasal cavities vary widely cross-sectional area, and, generally, the shape of the space that it across animals. To understand this variability, we here connect occupies. To tackle this complex problem, we first show that, nasal geometry to its function by theoretically studying the air- without geometric constraints, optimal shapes have slender flow and the associated scalar exchange that describes heating cross-sections. We then demonstrate that these shapes can be and humidification. We find that optimal geometries, which have compacted into the typical labyrinth-like shapes without much minimal resistance for a given exchange efficiency, have a con- loss in performance. stant gap width between their side walls, while their overall shape can adhere to the geometric constraints imposed by the Results head. Our theory explains the geometric variations of natural The Flow in the Nasal Cavity Is Laminar.
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