Respiratory Deposition

:: Section 1

Introduction

Particles suspended in the air enter our body when we breathe. These particles include natural materials such as bacteria, viruses, pollens, sea salt, road dust as well as anthropogenic emissions such as cigarette smoke, vehicle exhaust, boilers, agricultrual or forest burns. The hazard posed by these particles depends on their chemical composition as well as where they deposit within our respiratory system. The recent outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is a good example of disease transmission through the inhalation route. Interestingly, the same process applies to the administration of pharmaceutical aerosols or diagnostic aerosol by inhalation. Hence, the understanding of aerosol deposition in our respiratory system is critcal to our health so that we can reduce the deposition of "BAD" aerosol and enhance the deposition of "GOOD" aerosol in the desired region.