Lead isolation system and method for lead zirconate titanate ceramic transducers

Abstract

A method of treating a lead zirconate titanate ceramic transducer, such as for use in a droplet delivery device, includes cleaning the lead zirconate titanate ceramic transducer with an HCl solution and coating the transducer with a material that prevents lead from leaching into a fluid contacting the transducer.

Description

[0001] field

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to droplet delivery devices, including droplet delivery devices for delivering fluids inhaled into the mouth, throat, nose, and / or lungs.

[0003] background

[0004] Current droplet delivery systems include various inhaler-type systems. Some examples are metered dose inhalers (MDIs), pressurized metered dose inhalers (p-MDIs), pneumatic devices, and ultrasonically driven devices.

[0005] Details

[0006] As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "has," "having," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a method, product, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such method, product, article, or apparatus. In addition, unless expressly stated to the contrary, "or" refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any of the following: A is true (or exists) and B is false (or does not exist), A is false (or does not exist) and B is true (or exists), and both A and B are true (or exist).

[0007] As used herein, the term "substantially" is defined as substantially conforming to a particular size, shape or other word modified substantially, such that the components need not be exact. For example, substantially cylindrical means that the object resembles a cylinder, but may have one or more deviations from a true cylinder.

[0008] The term "coupled" is defined as connected, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components, and is not necessarily limited to physical connection. The connection may be such that the objects are permanently connected or releasably connected. The term "comprising" means "including but not necessarily limited to"; it specifically indicates open inclusion or membership in a stated combination, group, series, etc.

[0009] The present invention implements a lead zirconium titanate ceramic (PZT) that is operably formed as a transducer. The transducer is operably used in a droplet delivery device for humans and / or animals. Lead is indicated as being reasonably expected to be a carcinogen. Therefore, it is important to prevent or limit contact of liquids introduced to humans and / or animals with the PZT transducer. The present technology provided herein eliminates the ability of lead in the PZT to leach into liquid in contact with the PZT transducer in a droplet delivery device.

[0010] The present technology implements the cleaning of PZT transducers with hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution. In one embodiment, the PZT transducer is cleaned in HCl solution for one hour. In some embodiments, the solution of HCl is 0.1M (molar). In another embodiment, the PZT is cleaned in HCl 0.1M solution for 24 hours at 60°C. Preferably, each PZT uses at least 1mL of HCl solution. After the PZT is cleaned in 0.1M HCl, it is then cleaned in batches 3 times with grade 1 water. (Batch cleaning is to add room temperature water to the beaker and fill it to at least 1mL per PZT. The beaker is then gently rotated and the water is poured out, and the process is repeated a total of 3 times.) After removing all residual acid, the PZT is placed on a lint-free cloth and dried at room temperature for 24 hours. This results in the lead that can be leached into the surrounding fluid being cleaned from the PZT transducer. Even in the case of cleaning the PZT transducer with HCl, the performance of the PZT transducer can be maintained.

[0011] Once the PZT transducer is cleaned, a coating can be added. The coating includes one or more chemicals that help prevent lead from leaching into the fluid that contacts the transducer, such as in a droplet delivery device. For example, a stainless steel coating can be added. In other embodiments, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating can be implemented. In at least one embodiment, the titanium oxide coating can have a thickness of about 300 nanometers. In other embodiments, the coating for the PZT transducer can be a metal such as titanium (Ti), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt) and gold (Au) with a thickness of about 10nm to about 800nm. In various embodiments, a coating comprising two or more chemical materials can be used for the PZT transducer, including a combination of the aforementioned compounds and metals, which helps prevent lead from leaching into the fluid.

[0012] The acid wash and coating leads help prevent lead from leaching in undesirable amounts from the PZT transducer into a fluid that may be delivered in droplets, particularly avoiding such leaching in the event of aspiration of the droplets.

[0013] Although the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and that its elements may be replaced with equivalents without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt specific situations or materials to the teachings without departing from the basic scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention, but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for processing a lead zirconate titanate ceramic transducer, comprising: Cleaning the lead zirconate titanate ceramic transducer with an HCl solution; and The transducer is coated with one or more chemicals that help prevent lead from leaching into fluids contacting the transducer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises one or more of stainless steel, titanium oxide, and polytetrafluoroethylene.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises titanium oxide and has a thickness of about 300 nm.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing the transducer in a droplet delivery device after the applying of the coating.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the HCl solution is about 0.1 M.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising washing at about 60°C.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the HCl solution is about 0.1 M.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising washing at about 60°C.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising batch rinsing the transducer with water after rinsing with the HCl solution and drying the transducer before applying the coating.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the HCl solution is about 0.1 M.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises one or more metals selected from the group consisting of titanium, platinum, palladium, and gold, and has a thickness of about 10 nm to about 800 nm.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein the coating comprises one or more metals selected from the group consisting of titanium, platinum, palladium, and gold, and has a thickness of about 10 nm to about 800 nm.

13. The method of claim 4, wherein the coating comprises one or more of stainless steel, titanium oxide, and polytetrafluoroethylene.

14. The method of claim 4, wherein the coating comprises at least two chemical species selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, titanium oxide, polytetrafluoroethylene, titanium, platinum, palladium, and gold.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the coating comprises at least two chemical species selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, titanium oxide, polytetrafluoroethylene, titanium, platinum, palladium, and gold.