Viscoelastic Behavior of a Lung Alveolar Duct Model

A study is conducted into the oscillatory behavior of a finite element model of an alveolar duct. Its load-bearing components consist of a network of elastin and collagen fibers and surface tension acting over the air–liquid interfaces. The tissue is simulated using a visco-elastic model involving nonlinear quasi-static stress–strain behavior combined with a reduced relaxation function. The surface tension force is simulated with a time- and area-dependent model of surfactant behavior. The model was used to simulate lung parenchyma under three surface tension cases: air-filled, liquid-filled, and lavaged with 3-dimethyl siloxane, which has a constant surface tension of 16 dyn/cm. The dynamic elastance $Edyn$ and tissue resistance $Rti$ were computed for sinusoidal tidal volume oscillations over a range of frequencies from 0.16–2.0 Hz. A comparison of the variation of $Edyn$ and $Rti$ with frequency between the model and published experimental data showed good qualitative agreement. Little difference was found in the model between $Rti$ for the air-filled and lavaged models; in contrast, published data revealed a significantly higher value of $Rti$ in the lavaged lung. The absence of a significant increase in $Rti$ for the lavaged model can be attributed to only minor changes in the individual fiber bundle resistances with changes in their configuration. The surface tension was found to make an important contribution to both $Edyn$ and $Rti$ in the air-filled duct model. It was also found to amplify any existing tissue dissipative properties, despite exhibiting none itself over the small tidal volume cycles examined. [S0148-0731(00)00502-1]