Researchers at IIT Madras have found that holding your breath can increase your risk of contracting Covid-19 infection. They found that the transport of virus-laden droplets deep in the lungs increases with decreasing respiratory rate.

The research team modeled the respiratory rate in a laboratory and found that a low respiratory rate increases the residence time of the virus, thereby increasing the chances of deposition and, therefore, infection. Additionally, lung structure at multiple scales has a significant effect on a person’s susceptibility to Covid-19.

The research was led by Professor Mahesh Panchagnula, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, with his researchers Arnab Kumar Mallik and Soumalya Mukherjee, IIT Madras. The results of this study were published in the internationally renowned peer-reviewed journal Physics of Fluids.

Panchagnula said, “Covid-19 (the disease caused by the coronavirus) has opened a gap in our understanding of systemic deep lung disease. Our study unveils the mystery behind how particles are transported and deposited in the deep lungs. The study demonstrates the physical process by which aerosol particles are transported into the deep generations of the lung.

His team worked to better understand how the flow of virus-laden droplets determines the deposition of the virus in the lungs. In their research, the team reported that holding your breath and having a low rate of breathing can increase your chances of virus deposition in the lungs. The study was conducted to pave the way for the development of better therapies and drugs for respiratory infections. Previous work by the group has also highlighted significant variability in aerosol uptake from one individual to another, suggesting a reason some people are more susceptible to airborne illness than others.

Airborne infections such as the coronavirus are spread by sneezing and coughing, according to a statement released by IIT, as these events instantly release many tiny droplets.

The IIT Madras research team mimicked the dynamics of droplets in the lung by studying the movement of droplets in small capillaries similar in diameter to bronchioles. They took water mixed with fluorescent particles and generated aerosols from this liquid using a nebulizer. These fluorescent aerosols have been used to track the movement and deposition of particles in capillaries.

The researchers studied the movement of fluorescent aerosol particles in capillaries ranging in size from 0.3 to 2 millimeters that span the range of bronchiole diameters. They found that the deposition is inversely proportional to the aspect ratio of the capillaries, suggesting that the droplets are likely to settle in longer bronchioles.

Scientists also studied how the “Reynolds number,” a parameter that quantifies the nature of the flow – stable or turbulent, determines deposition in capillaries. They found that when the flow of movement of aerosols is stable, the particles are deposited via the diffusion process, however, if the flow is turbulent, the particles are deposited via the impact process, the scientists said in the release. .

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