Dry Powder Delivery Device with Breath-Triggered Gas Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dry powder delivery devices lack efficient control over the release of medicaments to the lungs or upper respiratory system, often requiring precise breathing patterns and may not effectively deliver therapeutically effective amounts of powder, especially for patients with respiratory issues or those who cannot follow breathing instructions.
Innovation Solution
A dry powder delivery apparatus that uses a gas source to release a therapeutically effective amount of medicament powder, controlled by a sensor that monitors breathing patterns and provides feedback to optimize inspiratory effort, allowing for adjustable release schedules based on breath and time considerations, and includes a staging chamber for bursts of gas to ensure proper delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a dry powder delivery device requires precise breathing patterns from patients, then the device can achieve controlled powder release, but the device becomes difficult to operate for patients with respiratory issues or those who cannot follow breathing instructions
Solution Approach 1:
The device automatically detects the patient's breathing pattern using a flow sensor and triggers powder release based on the detected inspiratory flow, eliminating the need for the patient to consciously control or coordinate their breathing with device operation. The system serves itself by using the patient's natural breathing as the trigger mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical coordination requirement (patient manually synchronizing breath with device activation) with an automated sensing and control system that detects breath flow and electronically triggers powder release, substituting mechanical patient effort with electronic automation.
2Device complexity
If a dry powder delivery device releases all powder at once, then the device simplifies the release mechanism, but the device cannot ensure therapeutically effective amounts reach the lungs for patients with poor inspiratory effort
Solution Approach 1:
The device dynamically adjusts the powder release amount based on the detected breathing pattern and inspiratory flow characteristics. The controller modulates the release mechanism to deliver appropriate doses that adapt to the patient's actual inhalation capacity, transforming a static all-or-nothing release into a dynamic, responsive delivery system.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow sensor provides real-time feedback on the patient's inspiratory flow, which the controller uses to determine the optimal moment and amount of powder release. This feedback loop ensures that powder is released only when the patient is actively inhaling, maximizing the likelihood that the full therapeutic dose reaches the lungs.
3Use of energy by moving object
If a dry powder delivery device uses patient's own inspiratory effort to transport powder, then the device reduces energy consumption, but the device cannot guarantee sufficient powder delivery to patients with respiratory insufficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs preliminary action by releasing powder into the inhalation passageway just before or at the onset of the patient's inspiratory flow. This timing ensures that the powder is already positioned and ready to be carried by the patient's inspiratory effort, maximizing delivery efficiency without requiring additional energy input from the device.
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes the patient's own respiratory pressure differential (negative pressure during inspiration) as the driving force to transport powder through the inhalation passageway and into the lungs. The system is designed to harness this natural pneumatic force, requiring no active pumping or pressurization mechanism.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus ensures efficient and controlled delivery of dry powder medicaments to the lungs or upper respiratory system, improving treatment efficacy by adjusting release according to individual breathing patterns and providing feedback for optimal inhalation, thereby enhancing therapeutic outcomes for diverse patient groups.
Implementation Method 1
a source of a gas; a staging chamber configured to allow one or more bursts of the gas through or adjacent the powder, thereby releasing a therapeutically effective amount of the powder suspended in the gas
Implementation Method 2
a sensor configured to sense a breathing pattern of the inspiratory breathing
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A
AI summary
A method of flowing a medicament containing powder using gas, including, providing a volume of a gas according to one or more release conditions; directing flow of said gas through or adjacent a powder including a medicament; and releasing a therapeutically effective amount of said powder using said gas. Optionally, the releasing comprises releasing according to breath considerations. Optionally or alternatively, the releasing comprises releasing according to time considerations. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the powder is held in a capsule that has apertures formed therein.