  The study is looking into the potential of using computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) as a tool for predicting the outcome of surgery for alleviation of
obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). From pre- and post-operative computed
tomography (CT) of an OSAS patient, the pre- and post-operative geometries of
the patient's upper airways were generated. CFD simulations of laminar flow in
the patient's upper airway show that after nasal surgery the mass flow is more
evenly distributed between the two nasal cavities and the pressure drop over
the nasal cavity has increased. The pressure change is contrary to clinical
measurements that the CFD results have been compared with, and this is most
likely related to the earlier steps of modelling - CT acquisition and geometry
retrieval.
