Air-Flow Patterns and Ciliary Activity in the Trachea after Tracheotomy: A Method of Determination in vitro of the Kate of Ciliary Beat in a Tracheal Model

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Abstract
An experimental method for studying the rate of ciliary beat on pieces of respiratory mucous membranes exposed to artificial to-and-fro ventilation has been evolved and tested. The influence on the rate of ciliary beat exerted by some aerodynamic factors just below a constriction (e.g. the larynx, a tracheal cannula, a pathological stenosis) in the airways is demonstrated. The efficiency of heat-and-moisture exchangers (HME's) used in posttracheotomy care appears from their influence upon the function of respiratory mucous membranes. It is also shown that ciliary activity, which has been stopped by drying for a short time, can be regained with the use of a HME. Finally, the present method seems well suited for testing the influence exerted by single physical factors and also by chemical substances on the rate of the ciliary beat of respiratory mucous membranes.