Analyzing the inspiratory airflow unsteadiness in the respiratory tract using dynamic mode decomposition method

To enhance the understanding of airflow characteristics in the human respiratory tract, the inspiratory airflow field was simulated under both tidal and quasi-steady inspiratory flow rates at the mouth inlet using the large eddy simulation method. Special attention was paid on analyzing the inspiratory airflow unsteadiness using the dynamics mode decomposition (DMD) method based on the vorticity field and comparing it with the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. The following novel findings were obtained. (1) Power spectral density indicates that the inspiratory airflow is highly turbulent in the pharynx–larynx region. The vorticity field in the upper airway is more affected by inspiratory patterns compared to turbulence fluctuations. (2) The DMD results indicate that the shear flow in the pharynx–larynx region is mainly caused by flow under low-frequency modes, while the disturbances of the jet flow are caused by flow under multiple frequency modes. Steady-state inspiratory pattern demonstrates the decay characteristics different from the tidal inspiratory pattern. (3) Compared to the POD method, which may contain multiple frequency components, the DMD decomposition yields modes with a single frequency, enabling a more accurate capture of the frequency and decay characteristics of the respiratory flow under each mode. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the DMD method is more suitable for studying the respiratory airflow unsteadiness and further confirms the necessity of adopting clinically measured inspiratory data to investigate airflow unsteadiness.