Examination of Heating and Cooling Function in Nasal Cavity That Applies Heat Conduction Model to Inner Wall

Heating is a main function of a nose. The most important contribution to this function is made by the upper respiratory tract before the air reaches the laryngotracheal region [1]. The examination of the temperature distribution in the nasal cavity by the measurement and numerical analysis was done in previous research [1–3]. However, accurate measurement of the temperature distribution in nasal cavity is technically difficult, and there isn’t the research of numerical simulation about the distribution of the temperature on the wall including the inflow temperature influence. In this study, we set the temperature condition in inner wall, and we used the heat conduction model to inner wall. The heat source is a blood that surrounds the nasal cavity. It exists in the nasal cavity wall. The temperature distribution inside the nasal cavity or on the surface of the boundary wall was examined. Moreover, the nasal cavity shape was restructured with the medical CT images of the volunteer. So far, we have examined the flow in the nasal cavity according to the nasal cavity shape restructured with the CT images [4]. In result, we showed that air was heated enough by the temperature of wall and the result by the heat conduction model showed a good agreement with the measurement result of the research of Keck [1]. In addition, because flow velocity was different with the right and left nasal cavity, the temperature distribution of a right and left nasal cavity was different. Moreover, the flow profile and the temperature distribution depended on each volunteer’s shape and were different.