OBJECTIVE: To develop a subject-specific, three-dimensional finite element (FE) model of the human upper airway and evaluate how ansa cervicalis stimulation (ACS), a novel neurostimulation for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), alters upper airway anatomy under physiologic loading. METHODS: Upper airway anatomy was reconstructed from a head-and-neck CT of an adult female using a semi-automated pipeline, including segmentation, smoothing, tetrahedral meshing, and registration. Linear elastic material properties were assigned from the literature. ACS was simulated as a caudal load on the anterior thyroid cartilage, and inspiratory collapse tendency was mimicked with a -70 Pa luminal negative pressure. Structural displacement and cross-sectional area (CSA) changes were quantified at the soft palate, lateral pharyngeal wall, tongue base, and epiglottis. RESULTS: ). CONCLUSION: This proof-of-concept, subject-specific FE model shows that ACS imparts caudal traction through the hyolaryngeal complex, producing multilevel anatomic stabilization under physiologic loading. The findings establish a quantitative, hypothesis-generating framework for interrogating ACS-mediated airway stabilization mechanisms and support further investigation across broader OSA populations and collapse phenotypes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.
Gupta et al. (Wed,) studied this question.