Dual-Medicament Blister Pack Layout for Compact Dry Powder Inhalers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dry powder inhalers face challenges in delivering multiple medicaments efficiently while maintaining compactness and preventing unwanted reactions or interactions, and incorporating use detection and wireless connectivity features.
Innovation Solution
A blister pack design with alternating or divided blister pockets for multiple medicaments, allowing simultaneous delivery through a medicament delivery assembly with a peeling mechanism, and a manifold for combined inhalation, while minimizing inhaler width and enabling space for additional features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If blister pockets containing more than one powder medicament type are provided in the inhaler, then the capability to deliver multiple medicaments is improved, but the compactness of the inhaler deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The inhaler is divided into separate functional modules: a blister pack module containing multiple medicaments in individual pockets, and a delivery mechanism module. This segmentation allows the blister pack to be compact while the delivery mechanism remains separate, resolving the contradiction between multi-medicament capability and overall compactness.
Solution Approach 2:
The blister pockets containing different powder medicaments are nested within a single blister pack structure. Multiple medicament types are arranged in consecutive pockets along the length of the strip, allowing the inhaler to deliver multiple medicaments while maintaining a compact form factor through efficient spatial arrangement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If use detection and wireless connectivity electronics are incorporated in the inhaler, then the functionality and compliance monitoring capability are improved, but the compactness of the inhaler deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The inhaler system is segmented into distinct functional components: the blister pack, the delivery mechanism, and the electronics module for use detection and wireless connectivity. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, enabling the incorporation of advanced electronics without compromising the overall compactness of the device.
3Reliability
If a peelable cover is provided covering the blister pockets, then the protection and controlled access of medicaments is improved, but the device complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The peelable cover is extracted as a separate, removable component from the main inhaler body. This allows the cover to provide reliable protection and controlled access to the medicaments in the blister pockets, while being easily removed when needed without adding permanent complexity to the core delivery mechanism.
Data Source
Figure 1A~3
Figure 4A~6
Figure 7A~7B
AI summary
Provided is a blister pack for a dry powder inhaler, which dry powder inhaler is configured to deliver a first powder medicament and a second powder medicament different from the first powder medicament. The first and second powder medicaments are contained within blister pockets (12A, 12B) defined in a strip (10). A series (11) of blister pockets is defined in the strip, which series extends linearly along the length of the strip. The first and second powder medicaments are contained in blister pockets, e.g. respective blister pockets, of the series. Alternatively or additionally, each of the blister pockets is elongated such as to have a largest dimension (20) parallel with the length of the strip. These measures, either individually or in combination, enable minimizing of the width of the strip in spite of the strip accommodating both the first and second powder medicaments. This, in turn, may enable the depth/thickness of the dry powder inhaler to be minimized, and/or additional space to be provided inside the dry powder inhaler for accommodating, for example, use detection and wireless connectivity electronics for sending use detection data to an external device, such as a smartphone.