Dual Nozzle Spray Device for Targeted Respiratory Drug Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spray devices are limited in their ability to target multiple medical and pharmaceutical applications simultaneously while avoiding adverse effects on the respiratory system, as they cannot control droplet size distribution effectively for different areas within the lungs and often risk delivering active ingredients like fragrances or pigments to the lungs.
Innovation Solution
A spray device with dual spray nozzle units, each with orifices of different predetermined sizes, allowing for the generation of micro-jets with varying droplet sizes to target specific areas within the respiratory system, while ensuring that larger droplets with active ingredients are captured in the oral cavity and smaller droplets reach the lungs, using semiconductor technology for precise orifice creation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single spray nozzle unit with uniform orifices is used, then the manufacturing process is simple and consistent, but the device cannot target multiple areas within the respiratory system with different droplet sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The spray device is divided into multiple spray nozzle units, each with orifices of different predetermined sizes. Each nozzle unit targets a specific respiratory area (e.g., oral cavity, bronchi, alveoli) with appropriately sized droplets, enabling multi-area treatment without requiring a single complex adjustable system.
Solution Approach 2:
Each spray nozzle unit is designed with specific orifice sizes tailored to target particular respiratory zones. The first nozzle unit has orifices optimized for oral cavity delivery, the second for bronchi targeting, and the third for alveoli penetration, creating local specialization for different anatomical regions.
2Quantity of substance
If larger orifices are used to deliver sufficient fluid quantity, then the spray coverage is improved, but the droplet size becomes too large to reach deep lung areas
Solution Approach 1:
The fluid delivery system is segmented into multiple nozzle units with progressively smaller orifices. The first nozzle unit with larger orifices delivers greater fluid quantity to the oral cavity, while subsequent units with smaller orifices deliver progressively smaller droplets that can travel deeper into the respiratory tract, resolving the trade-off between quantity and reach.
3Length of moving object
If smaller orifices are used to produce smaller droplets for deep lung penetration, then the droplet reach is improved, but the total fluid delivery quantity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple spray nozzle units with different orifice sizes are merged into a single integrated device. The first nozzle unit with larger orifices provides high fluid quantity for oral cavity coverage, while the second and third units with smaller orifices provide deep lung penetration capability. The combined system delivers both sufficient quantity and adequate reach simultaneously.
4Ease of operation
If active ingredients like fragrances and pigments are delivered to the lungs, then the sensory experience is enhanced, but adverse effects on the respiratory system occur
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery system is segmented to separate sensory ingredient delivery from active pharmaceutical delivery. Fragrances and pigments are delivered through the first nozzle unit to the oral cavity where they provide sensory enhancement without reaching the lungs. Active ingredients are delivered through subsequent nozzle units with smaller orifices that target deep lung areas, ensuring therapeutic delivery without exposing the respiratory system to potentially harmful substances.
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 device provides flexible and targeted delivery of pharmaceuticals and flavorings, ensuring that active ingredients reach the lungs without harming the respiratory system, offering a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes and electronic cigarette replacements.
Implementation Method 1
each jet will initially breakup into a mono-disperse primary droplet train according to a Rayleigh breakup mechanism... the fluid is forced out of the chamber through said orifices to enter into the environment as a train of substantially equal droplets
Implementation Method 2
each jet will initially breakup into a mono-disperse primary droplet train according to a Rayleigh breakup mechanism
Implementation Method 3
A membrane layer of silicon nitride, overlying the silicon body, is locally perforated using ultra precise semiconductor technology, like photo-etching, to form a plurality of spray orifices
Implementation Method 4
The silicon body is locally etched underneath said orifices to establish a cavity
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a spray device having a spray nozzle unit and at least one further spray nozzle unit. Each spray nozzle unit has at least one spray nozzle body, wherein at least one spray nozzle body comprises a chamber for receiving a pressurized fluid. The chamber is bound by a spray wall having at least one spray orifice that extends through the spray wall and opens to an external environment. Each of at least one orifice in a spray wall has a substantially identical predetermined size lying in a predetermined range and releases a mono disperse spray jet of the pressurized fluid fed from the associated reservoir. The range within the first spray nozzle unit differs from the range within at least one further spray nozzle unit; particularly, the ranges do not overlap.