Breathe Free
Haribalan Kumar, PhD; Merryn Tawhai, PhD; Ravi Jain, MD; Richard Douglas, MD
A chronically blocked nose is no fun for anyone. Productive of particular misery, is a condition called chronic rhinosinusitis; an inflammatory disease of the sinuses leading to completely obstructed breathing.
In such cases, endoscopic surgery is routinely performed. The surgery is complicated because of presence of nearby organs such as nerves, the eyes, and the brain.
Using fundamental engineering principles, we study the degrees of improvement in breathing after surgery. This image shows the anatomy of sinuses inside the nose and traces of air flow inside the sinuses.