Physical analysis and mathematical model of the airway

Clinical application and possible impact on tracheal intubation

Abstract

Objective: to propose a mathematical model of the airway, designed through validation and reliability analysis by clinical measurement in a sample of patients classified as easy airway, for to standardize the method.

Material and methods: the proposed model is structured from anatomic relationships between osseous components of the airway and tongue"(TM)s location, before and during the direct laryngoscope procedure in adult patients. Based on previous information, we designed a two-dimensional mathematical model of the airway and there were estimated probabilities of clinical use. Based on previous postulates, we proposed a method to estimate the F number.

Results: we demonstrated a consistent behavior of the F statistic, derived from clinical measurements on individuals classified as easy airway also were evaluated hypotheses about its possible application in hard intubation processes.

Conclusions: mathematical model showed an acceptable concordance, when it was compared with the traditional clinical assessment and it demonstrated be reliable to confirm the concept of difficult airway, although poor to rule out it.