HIV/AIDS is a growing global pandemic. A microbicide is a formulation of a pharmaceutical agent suspended in a delivery vehicle, and can be used by women to protect themselves against HIV infection during intercourse. We have developed a three-dimensional (3D) computational model of a shear-thinning power-law fluid spreading under the influence of gravity to represent the distribution of a microbicide gel over the vaginal epithelium. This model, accompanied by a new experimental methodology, is a step in developing a tool for optimizing a delivery vehicle's structure/function relationship for clinical application. We compare our model with experiments in order to identify critical considerations for simulating 3D free-surface flows of shear-thinning fluids. Here we found that neglecting lateral spreading, when modeling gravity-induced flow, resulted in up to 47% overestimation of the experimental axial spreading after 90 s. In contrast, the inclusion of lateral spreading in 3D computational models resulted in rms errors in axial spreading under 7%. In addition, the choice of the initial condition for shape in the numerical simulation influences the model's ability to describe early time spreading behavior. Finally, we present a parametric study and sensitivity analysis of the power-law parameters' influence on axial spreading, and to examine the impact of changing rheological properties as a result of dilution or formulation conditions. Both the shear-thinning index (n) and consistency (m) impacted the spreading length and deceleration of the moving front. The sensitivity analysis showed that gels with midrange m and n values (for the ranges in this study) would be most sensitive (over 8% changes in spreading length) to 10% changes (e.g., from dilution) in both rheological properties. This work is applicable to many industrial and geophysical thin-film flow applications of non-Newtonian fluids; in addition to biological applications in microbicide drug delivery.
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June 2013
Research-Article
Experimental and Numerical Models of Three-Dimensional Gravity-Driven Flow of Shear-Thinning Polymer Solutions Used in Vaginal Delivery of Microbicides
Vitaly O. Kheyfets,
Vitaly O. Kheyfets
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Lawrence,
University of Kansas
,Lawrence,
KS 66045
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Sarah L. Kieweg
Sarah L. Kieweg
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Lawrence, KS 66045;
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Kansas City, KS 66160
e-mail: kieweg@ku.edu
University of Kansas
,Lawrence, KS 66045;
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
University of Kansas Medical Center
,Kansas City, KS 66160
e-mail: kieweg@ku.edu
1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
Vitaly O. Kheyfets
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Lawrence,
University of Kansas
,Lawrence,
KS 66045
Sarah L. Kieweg
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Lawrence, KS 66045;
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Kansas City, KS 66160
e-mail: kieweg@ku.edu
University of Kansas
,Lawrence, KS 66045;
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
University of Kansas Medical Center
,Kansas City, KS 66160
e-mail: kieweg@ku.edu
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Bioengineering Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICAL ENGINEERING. Manuscript received November 23, 2012; final manuscript received March 19, 2013; accepted manuscript posted April 4, 2013; published online May 9, 2013. Assoc. Editor: Ram Devireddy.
J Biomech Eng. Jun 2013, 135(6): 061009 (14 pages)
Published Online: May 9, 2013
Article history
Received:
November 23, 2012
Revision Received:
March 19, 2013
Accepted:
April 4, 2013
Citation
Kheyfets, V. O., and Kieweg, S. L. (May 9, 2013). "Experimental and Numerical Models of Three-Dimensional Gravity-Driven Flow of Shear-Thinning Polymer Solutions Used in Vaginal Delivery of Microbicides." ASME. J Biomech Eng. June 2013; 135(6): 061009. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4024140
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