Back
Full-text
Journal article

Fluid-particle dynamics in canalithiasis.

  • Obrist D Institute of Fluid Dynamics, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. obrist@ifd.mavt.ethz.ch
  • Hegemann S
  • 2008-03-06
Published in:
  • Journal of the Royal Society, Interface. - 2008
Computer Simulation
Humans
Labyrinth Diseases
Lithiasis
Models, Biological
Particle Size
Semicircular Canals
Vertigo
English The semicircular canals (SCCs; located in the inner ear) are the primary sensors for angular motion. Angular head movements induce a fluid flow in the SCCs. This flow is detected by afferent hair cells inside the SCCs. Canalithiasis is a condition where small particles disturb this flow, which leads to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (top-shelf vertigo). The present work investigates the interaction between the fluid flow and the particles on the basis of an idealized analytical model. Numerical solutions of the full model and a thorough analytical study of the linearized model reveal the principal mechanisms of canalithiasis. We propose a set of dimensionless numbers to characterize canalithiasis and derive explicit expressions connecting these dimensionless numbers directly to the typical clinical symptoms.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/164175
Statistics
Document views: 30 File downloads:
  • Full-text: 0