Development of an Upper Airway Model in a 32 Weeks Gestational Age Premature Newborn

Background: Effective airway passage of aerosols in respiratory therapy of neonates is crucial for a positive outcome. Therefore, devices aimed at delivering aerosols to the lungs such as inhalers and nebulisers must be studied thoroughly. For this purpose we constructed an anatomically correct model of the upper airways in a 32 weeks gestational age premature infant. Objective: This study describes the construction process, validation and characterization of this airway model. Methods: Three-dimensional reconstruction of a three-planar MRI scan was done using Magics© software (Materialise™, Munich, Germany) fol…