| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/N34895/01 |
| Title: |
SURFACTANT TRANSPORT ON MUCUS FILMS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Matar, Professor OK |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Chemical Engineering |
| Organisation: |
Imperial College London |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 February 2001 |
Ends: |
31 January 2003 |
Value (£): |
92,599
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Continuum Mechanics |
Medical science & disease |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Chemicals |
Healthcare |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Surfactant Replacement Therapy (SRT) is a popular method of treatment of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS), a common medical condition in prematurely born infants whose lungs, unfortunately, can not produce adequate quantities of pulmonary surfactant. It proceeds via the external delivery of surfactant into pulmonary airway and relies heavily on uniformity and efficiency of coverage of the liquid film lining the inside of pulmonary airways with surfactant. Although recent work has attempted to model the spreading process, important features of this process have been completely ignored. A glaring example of this is treatment of the liquid layer, which for many generations in the pulmonary tree consists of a mucus-water bilayer, as a single water layer. Neglecting such features will lead to grossly inaccurate predictions of the spreading characteristics (eg spreading rate and flow profiles). The goal of this work will be to provide a more accurate theoretical treatment of the spreading process by directly accounting for the bilayer nature of the thin liquid lining and the strongly non-Newtonian rheological properties of its mucus component. Numerical solution of these models will provide predictions of the spreading characteristics as a function of system parameters and geometry.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.imperial.ac.uk |