Demonstration of mucus simulant clearance in a Bench-Model using acoustic Field-Integrated Intrapulmonary Percussive ventilation

Gutmark, Ephraim; Anand, Vijay; Wheeler, Aaron; Zahn, Alexander; Cavari, Yuval; Eluk, Tal; Hay, Maor; Katoshevski, David; Gutmark-Little, Iris

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2022.111305

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The mucus serves as a tool to capture these foreign particles, preventing their entry into the sensitive tissues and facilitating their removal through the motion of the cilia [7]. In various conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), COVID-19, and asthma, mucus may accumulate in the lungs, and several techniques have been suggested to clear the mucus from the lungs [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gels That Serve as Mucus Simulants: A Review

Vinod

Tadmor

Katoshevski

et al. 2023

Gels

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Mucus is a critical part of the human body’s immune system that traps and carries away various particulates such as anthropogenic pollutants, pollen, viruses, etc. Various synthetic hydrogels have been developed to mimic mucus, using different polymers as their backbones. Common to these simulants is a three-dimensional gel network that is physically crosslinked and is capable of loosely entrapping water within. Two of the challenges in mimicking mucus using synthetic hydrogels include the need to mimic the rheological properties of the mucus and its ability to capture particulates (its adhesion mechanism). In this paper, we review the existing mucus simulants and discuss their rheological, adhesive, and tribological properties. We show that most, but not all, simulants indeed mimic the rheological properties of the mucus; like mucus, most hydrogel mucus simulants reviewed here demonstrated a higher storage modulus than its loss modulus, and their values are in the range of that found in mucus. However, only one mimics the adhesive properties of the mucus (which are critical for the ability of mucus to capture particulates), Polyvinyl alcohol–Borax hydrogel.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%