How the Group was Formed

The organisational structure of the Lung Bioengineering research group (GRUBIPU) has been established for three years, but the group has been working in this field since 2010. It is working towards the strategic objective set out in the health research project within the national plan followed by the group, which is to study the influence of the geometry of the airways upon obstructive lung diseases. The group is organised into two sections, with the PI of the national plan project (Ana Fernández Tena) leading the Instituto Nacional de Silicosis (INS) and Hospital Universitario Central de Asturia (HUCA) section and the Co-PI (Raúl Barrio Perotti) leading the Escuela Politécnica de Ingeniería (Polytechnic Engineering School, EPI) section. The INS and HUCA section is more focused on medicine: its staff are specialised in the lungs, radiology and nuclear medicine and perform experimental work, including analysis of results, given that they have suitable equipment for this task, such as CT scanners. The EPI section is focused on engineering: its staff are specialised in reconstructing lungs using scanned images and experienced in performing numerical work, as well as developing and using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models that simulate respiratory flow and the deposition of particles in the airways.

Current and Future Priorities

There are two major challenges that need to be solved if we are to obtain a model and methodology that enable us to satisfactorily investigate air flow in the human lung and predict its behaviour in a variety of situations:

• The models developed to date deal only with the conducting zone, and exclude the respiratory zone. It would therefore be beneficial to create a model of the lung that extends to the 23rd generation of the tracheobronchial tree , and develop a methodology that enables this geometry to be resolved without excessive computational cost.
• The air exhalation phase has not been simulated because the flow generated is more complex than that occurring during the inhalation phase, due to the effect of diffusion (transition from small scales to larger ones).

HUCA currently has an extensive database of radiological tests obtained using HRCT (High-Resolution Computed Tomography) and/or MR (Magnetic Resonance), from which the morphology of a set of typical lungs can be obtained, in order to construct lung models and study particle deposition experimentally. Using CFD, numerical simulations that reproduce air flow in the pulmonary airways can be run on the lung models. These simulations enable us to make predictions about the evolution of certain lung diseases and their response to various treatments, and to study the deposition of drugs and other types of particles in the lung.

The group’s overarching scientific objective is to study the influence of airway geometry upon obstructive lung diseases. Its secondary objectives include developing verified models that may be used to predict the progression of diseases in the airways and their response to treatment, as well as creating a platform for the production of specific tools for each patient and the personalised management of airway diseases.

• Adrián Pandal-Blanco, Raúl Barrio-Perotti, Ana Fernández-Tena and Eduardo Blanco Marigorta (2019). A multidisciplinary approach for teaching introductory computational fluid dynamics. International journal of engineering education, 35(3), 947-955. Q4/ Education, Scientific Disciplines.
• Ana Fernández Tena; Rosirys Guzmán Taveras (2019). Utilidad de la resonancia magnética en la sospecha de cáncer de pulmón en pacientes con silicosis. Archivos de Bronconeumología. Elsevier, 01/04/2019. Available online at: <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cnm.2830/full>. Q1/Respiratory System.
• Adrián Pandal-Blanco, Raúl Barrio-Perotti, R. Agujetas-Ortiz and Ana Fernández-Tena (2019). Implementation of a specific boundary condition for a simplified symmetric single‑path CFD lung model with OpenFOAM. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-019-01174-w. Q2/ Engineering, Biomedical.
• Fernández-Tena, A., Marcos, A. C., Agujetas, R., & Ferrera, C. (2018). Simulation of the human airways using virtual topology tools and meshing optimization. Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology, 17(2), 465-477. Q2/ Engineering, Biomedical.
• Ana Fernández-Tena, Alfonso C. Marcos, Cristina Martínez, D. Keith Walters. A new adaptive time step method for unsteady flow simulations in a human lung. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2017;20(8): 915–917. Q2/ Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications.
• Ana Fernández Tena, Joaquín Fernández, Cristina Martínez, Pere Casan. Orofaringeous deposit of drugs administered by dry powder inhalers. European Respiratory Journal 2017 50 (Suppl 61): PA2494; DOI: 0.1183/1393003.congress-2017.PA2494. Q1/Respiratory System.
• Ana Fernández Tena, Joaquín Fernández, Pere Casan. Particle deposition in healthy and bronchoconstricted lung. European Respiratory Journal 2016 48: PA4402; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4402. Q1/Respiratory System.
• Ana Fernández Tena, Joaquín Fernández, Rafael Agujetas, Pere Casan. Airway model reconstructed from CT images. European Respiratory Journal 2016 48: PA4404; DOI: 10.1183/13993003.congress-2016.PA4404. Q1/Respiratory System.
• Fernández-Tena A ; Fernández, Joaquín; Álvarez, Eduardo; Casan, Pere; Walters, Keith. (2017). Design of a numerical model of lung by means of a special boundary condition in the truncated branches. International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering, 33(6), e2830. Q1/ Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Applications.
• Ana Fernández Tena; Joaquín Fernández; Eduardo Álvarez; Pere Casan. (2015). A three dimensional in SILICO model for the simulation of inspiratory and expiratory airflow in humans. Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics, 9(1), 187-198. Q2/ Engineering, Multidisciplinary.
• Ana Fernández Tena, Pere Casan Clarà (2015). Aplicaciones de la dinámica de fluidos computacional a la neumología. Archivos de Bronconeumología, 51(6), 293-298. Q3/ Respiratory System.
• Ana Fernández Tena, Pere Casan Clarà (2012). Deposition of Inhaled Particles in the Lungs. Archivos de bronconeumología, 48(7), 240-246. Q3/Respiratory System.
• Suarez-García JM, Maestro-González A, Zuazua-Rico D, Sánchez-Zaballos M, Mosteiro-Díaz MP (2018). Stressors for Spanish nursing students in clinical practice. Nurse education today, 64, 16-20. Q1/ Nursing.
• Maestro-González A, Bilbao-León MC, Zuazua-Rico D, Fernández-Carreira JM, Baldonedo-Cernuda RF, Mosteiro-Díaz MP (2018). Quality of life as assessed by adults with cerebral palsy. PloS one, 13(2), e0191960. Q2/ Multidisciplinary Sciences.
• Pandal, A., García-Oliver, J. M., Novella, R., & Pastor, J. M. (2018). A computational analysis of local flow for reacting Diesel sprays by means of a Eulerian CFD model. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 99, 257-272. Q1/ Mechanics.
• Pandal, A., Pastor, J. M., García-Oliver, J. M., Baldwin, E., & Schmidt, D. P. (2016). A consistent, scalable model for Eulerian spray modeling. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 83, 162-171. Q1/ Mechanics.
• Desantes, J. M., García-Oliver, J. M., Pastor, J. M., Pandal, A., Baldwin, E., & Schmidt, D. P. (2016). Coupled/decoupled spray simulation comparison of the ECN spray a condition with the Σ-Y Eulerian atomization model. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 80, 89-99. Q1/ Mechanics.

• Public research organisation grants
  Principal Investigator: Eduardo Blanco Marigorta
  Researchers: Eduardo Blanco Marigorta, Jorge Parrondo Gayo, Sandra Velarde Suárez, Joaquín Fernández Francos, José González Pérez, Jesús Fernández Oro, Katia María Argüelles Díaz, Bruno Pereiras García, Antonio José Gutiérrez Trashorras, Mónica Galdó Vega, Eduardo Álvarez Álvarez, María José Suárez López, Andrés Meana Fernández, Manuel García Díaz
  Funding Body: Principado de Asturias
  Reference Number: IDI/2018/000205, Grupin-IDI-2018-000205
  Amount: €182,000
  Duration: January 2018 – December 2020
• The effect of regular exposure to damp/mould on asthmatic patient management and quality of life
  Principal Investigator: Sandra Dorado Arenas
  Researchers: Sandra Dorado Arenas, Aizea Mardones Charroalde, Ana Fernández Tena, Ana Boldova Loscertales, Ana Lapuente Torrents, Ana Gómez-Bastero Fernández, Francisco Javier Callejas González, Francisco Javier Bravo Gutiérrez, Inés Escribano Gimeno, Iñigo Ojanguren Arranz, Ismael Ali García, Leonardo Saldaña Pérez, Lyam Lamrini H. Laarbi, María Climent Gregori, María Arias Arcos, Marta Ferrer Galván, Rocío García García, Rocío Magdalena Díaz Campos, Rubén Andújar Espinosa, Sandra Dorado Arenas, Silvia Sánchez Cuellar, Susana Herrera Lara, Tamara Gutiérrez Urra
  Funding Body: SEPAR – Fundación RESPIRA
  Reference Number: 502-2017
  Amount: €15,000
  Duration: May 2018 – April 2019
• A study of the influence of airway geometry upon obstructive lung diseases
  Principal Investigator: Ana Fernández Tena
  Researchers: Ana Fernández Tena, Pere Casan Clarà, Cristina Martínez González, Amador Prieto Fernández, Joaquín Fernández Francos, Carmen Vigil Díaz, Eduardo Álvarez Álvarez, Eduardo Blanco Marigorta, Raúl Barrio Perotti, Adrián Pandal Blanco, Noelia Martín Fernández
  Funding Body: MINECO-ISCIII
  Reference Number: PI17/01639
  Amount: €41,140
  Duration: December 2017 – November 2020
• Experimental and numerical study of a three-dimensional model of an asthmatic patient’s airways, reconstructed using CT or MR images
  Principal Investigator: Ana Fernández Tena
  Researchers: Ana Fernández Tena, Pere Casan Clarà, Francisco Julián López González, Cristina Martínez González, Rosirys Mercedes Guzmán Taveras, Joaquín Fernández Francos
  Funding Body: ASTURPAR – Fundación AIRE
  Reference Number: 2/16
  Amount: €1,700
  Duration: February 2016 – February 2018