Advances in Fluid Dynamics Simulation for Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome

Dalian Maritime University, School of Information Science and Technology, Dalian, 116026, China

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Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a common sleep-related breathing disorder characterized by recurrent partial or complete collapse of the upper airway during sleep. In recent years, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become an important tool for clarifying upper-airway fluid-structure interaction in OSAHS, quantifying its pathophysiological features, and supporting individualized diagnosis and treatment. Existing studies show that CFD can quantify key parameters such as pressure distribution, airflow velocity, and wall shear stress in the upper airway. When combined with fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis, it can further reveal collapse mechanisms across sleep states and anatomical phenotypes, providing a quantitative basis for interpreting OSAHS pathophysiology and optimizing therapy. This review summarizes recent advances in OSAHS fluid dynamics simulation, including multimodal upper-airway modeling, multiphysics FSI simulation, and major findings from aerodynamic analyses. It also discusses current limitations in in vivo validation, patient-specific parameter calibration, and clinical translation, and proposes future directions to support both basic research and clinical application.