Simulating Mucociliary Transport Using the Method of Regularized Stokeslets

Abstract

Mucociliary clearance is a process whereby cilia lining the airways propel mucus and entrapped particles away from the lungs. Understanding this process is critical to treating ciliary defects, as well as to developing effective inhaled drug treatments. In this paper, we formulate a fluid model to simulate mucociliary transport of a single particle. The method of regularized Stokeslets, in combination with the method of images, is used to compute the velocity field in the mucus layer due to ciliary beating. The advective and diffusive motion of the particle is then modeled using the forward Euler method. Finally, our simulation is used to gain insight into the effect on mucociliary transport of various biological parameters, including ciliary spacing, ciliary phase differences, particle diffusivity, and particle starting location.