Aerosol deliver apparatus IV

Abstract

A multipurpose aerosol medication delivery apparatus that includes a collapsible/expandable, or a fixed volume, or a combination of partially fixed volume and partially collapsible/expandable holding chamber for use with a metered dosed inhaler (MDI) and/or any standard small volume nebulizer. The holding chamber is designed to deliver-aerosol medication particles generated by an MDI; aerosol medication particles generated by a nebulizer; a single gas or a mixture of gases; a single gas or a mixture of gases that can yield a gas density that will enhance aerosol delivery of medication with both MDI and nebulizer; a single gas or a mixture of gases that will yield and deliver an oxygen concentration to a patient ranging from room air concentration to 100%. The device includes a reservoir that stores nebulized aerosol generated during exhalation to be inhaled during the next breath. The device also included a one way valve to prevent carbon dioxide generated during exhalation from rebreathing by not allowing the exhaled air from entering the holding chamber. The device includes an exit port with a second one way valve that allows the exhaled air to exit the device but closes during inhalation to prevent any entrainment of room air gas. The exit port may instead have a filter with one-way valve to trap the exhaled aerosol particles while allowing the exhaled gases to escape. The filter valve will similarly close during inhalation to prevent entrainment of room air gas. The holding chamber will allow a uniform mixture of aerosol medication and gases to flow together during inhalation to the patient via a mouthpiece or a facemask. The holding chamber is connected to a nebulizer chamber with a single or multiple connecting tubes that allow gas mixtures with varying density, viscosity, humidity and concentration of oxygen to flow into the holding chamber from the nebulizer chamber. The pattern of flow of the gas(es) does not disturb the flow of the nebulized medication from the nebulizer chamber to the holding chamber or interfere with the plume generated by an MDI. The device also serves as a facemask for delivering precise concentrations of oxygen or as a 100% non-rebreather mask. The device also serves to deliver precise concentrations of different density gases i.e. nitrogen, helium, oxygen, etc. This will allow varying fractions of inspired oxygen to deliver aerosol medication via MDI or a nebulizer. Thus, the device has the ability to deliver aerosol medication with an MDI or a nebulizer while retaining the ability to simultaneously deliver different density gas mixtures and varying fraction of inspired oxygen without interrupting one for the other.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]3967619July, 1976Story et al.4484577November, 1984Sackner et al.128 / 2004534343August, 1985Nowacki et al.128 / 2034790305December, 1988Zoltain et al128 / 2034823784April, 1989Bordoni et al.4926852May, 1990Zoltain et al.128 / 2035020530June, 1991Miller et al.5027806July, 1991Zoltain et al.128 / 2035752502May 1998King et al.128 / 2004819629April, 1989Jonson128 / 200D272559February, 1984GuthD24 / 110D295321April, 1988HollworthD24 / 110D342993January, 1994FathiD24 / 110D373630September, 1996Berg et al.D24 / 1105139016August, 1992Waser128 / 2005178138January, 1993Walstrom et al.128 / 2005063921November, 1991Howe128 / 200D442685May, 2001Sladek5738087April, 1998Key128 / 2005497765March, 1996Proud, et al128 / 2005431154July, 1995Siegel et al.128 / 2005078131January, 1970Greenfield128 / 2005320094June, 1994Lombe et al.128 / 2005617844April, 1997King128 / 2003187748June, 1995Mitchell et al.128 / 2005848587December, 1998King128 / 200US Pat. App.September, 2002Johnson#20020121275BACKGROUND O...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0035] The present invention provides an aerosol medication delivery apparatus, which incorporates the aforementioned advantages. The inventive device includes a fixed volume or a collapsible / expandable MDI holding chamber, a fixed volume or a collapsible / expandable nebulizer chamber, a system of connecting the two chambers with 2 or more hollow collapsible / expandable or fixed volume cylindrical connecting tubes. The MDI holding chamber maybe a fixed volume chamber or a collapsible / expandable chamber or a combination of the two i.e., partly fixed and partly collapsible / expandable chamber. The collapsible feature of the device makes it compact when solely in use for delivery of single gas or different gas mixtures while the expandable feature can be utilized when delivering aerosol medication with an MDI and / or a nebulizer.

Problems solved by technology

Patients can self-administer the MDI medication using the boot alone but the majority of patients have difficulty in synchronizing the actuation of the MDI canister and inhalation of the medication.

These devices are expensive and may be alright for chronic conditions that require frequent use of MDI inhalers provided the cost and labor involved in frequent delivery of medication is acceptable to the patient.

However, under acute symptoms, such devices may fail to serve the purpose and lead to an inadequate delivery of medication.

Nebulizers are fraught with numerous problems as well.

The medication dose used is about 10 times of that used with an MDI and hence the increased cost without any added proven clinical benefit.

Secondly, the majority of the nebulized medication is wasted during exhalation.

Thirdly, the time taken to deliver the medication is several times that of an MDI and the labor cost of respiratory therapist may outweigh the benefits of nebulizers compared with MDIs.

However, these devices are expensive and still have all the other problems associated with nebulizer use alone.

Problems with prior art devices such as described are a significant waste of medication, a non-uniform concentration of delivered medication, expensive, and difficult to use.

All the afore mentioned devices can be used with either an MDI or a nebulizer but not both, and hence, face the difficultly associated with either system alone.

However, the device is plagued with problems typical of such devices.

Just like other prior art devices, this device as well fails to incorporate some of the key the features necessary for enhanced aerosol delivery.

A list of problems associated with this device and other similar devices are outlined below: (1) The entrained airflow in this device interferes with the MDI plume as well as the plume generated by a nebulizer resulting in increased impaction losses of aerosol generated by either an MDI or nebulizer.

(2) The device does not have the ability to deliver a desired precise fraction of inspired oxygen to a hypoxic patient and simultaneously deliver aerosol medication with either a metered dose inhaler or a nebulizer.

(3) The device cannot deliver a gas with a desired density to improve aerosol delivery and a desired fraction of inspired oxygen to a hypoxemic patient (4) The device does not have the ability to deliver different density gases with a desired fraction of inspired oxygen simultaneously while retaining the ability to deliver aerosol medication at the same time with either an MDI or a nebulizer (5) the device does not have the ability to deliver a mixture of multiple gases to a patient and simultaneously maintain a desired fraction of inspired oxygen (6) the device does not serve as a facemask for delivering varying concentrations of inspired oxygen from room air to 100% but serves solely as an aerosol delivery device (7) the device does not have a reservoir chamber-either as a bag or as a large volume tubing t store nebulized medication that is otherwise wasted during exhalation.

The holding chamber of this device varies from 90 cc to 140 cc and is not enough to serve as a reservoir for the volume of nebulized medication generated during exhalation and hence in a normal sized adult most of the medication generated during exhalation is wasted (8) there is no mechanism in the device to prevent entrainment of room air which forms the bulk of volume during inhalation.

Rebreathing of carbon dioxide from the holding chamber on subsequent inhalation can be extremely detrimental to a patient and extremely dangerous under certain clinical conditions (10) the device does not have the capability of delivering medication with an MDI and a nebulizer simultaneously (11) the device has a fixed volume-holding chamber, which makes the device extremely large and cumbersome to deliver medication.

Images