Joint size and velocity statistics of droplets exhaled while speaking, coughing, and breathing
Human respiration releases a droplet laden air cloud that can carry pathogens and transmit infectious diseases. Despite extensive research, the characterization of exhaled droplets remains incomplete, with significant variability in droplet size distribution and limited measurement of droplet velocity. This study employs an enhanced version of the Interferometric Laser Imaging for Droplet Sizing (ILIDS) technique to simultaneously measure droplet size and velocity in 23 volunteers during speaking, coughing, and breathing. We also evaluate the impact of protective masks on droplet size and velocity distributions, and the variability observed between and within individual volunteers.
Authors
- Pietro Salizzoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5987-9839)
- Giovanni Leuzzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3929-6737)
- Nathalie Grosjean
- Livia Grandoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7888-4440)
- Loïc Méès (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2326-4407)
- Paolo Monti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5194-1351)
- Armando Pelliccioni
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- École Centrale de Lyon (FR)
- Politecnico di Torino (IT)
- Accident Compensation Corporation (NZ)
- Istituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione Contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro (IT)
- Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique (FR)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Fluids
- Published
- 2025-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevfluids.10.043102
- Primary Topic
- Infection Control and Ventilation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Istituto Nazionale per l'Assicurazione Contro Gli Infortuni sul Lavoro