Flow Modification Device for Aerosol Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
A significant percentage of aerosol medication is deposited in the mouth, throat, and trachea rather than reaching the lungs due to turbulence in the fluid stream, leading to inefficiencies in medication delivery and potential side effects from medication absorption by these surfaces.
Innovation Solution
An air passage with a plurality of dividers is used to align and guide the flow of air and particles, systematically subdividing the flow passage into smaller passages to maintain laminar flow, reducing particle impact on the passage walls and ensuring more medication reaches the lungs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If aerosol medication is delivered through a simple passage, then the device structure is simple, but turbulence causes medication deposition in mouth and throat
Solution Approach 1:
The passage is divided into multiple sub-passages using divider elements. The single flow path is segmented into several parallel sub-passages, which reduces turbulence and prevents medication deposition on passage walls, thereby improving medication delivery efficiency to lungs while maintaining reasonable structural complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Divider elements are introduced as intermediary structures within the passage. These dividers act as mediators that guide the aerosol flow, reduce turbulence, and prevent direct contact between medication particles and passage walls, thus improving delivery reliability
2Stability of the object's composition
If turbulence is present in the fluid stream, then mixing is enhanced, but particles impact passage walls causing medication loss
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the passage into multiple sub-passages, the flow in each sub-passagement becomes more uniform and laminar. This segmentation prevents the turbulent mixing that would otherwise cause particles to deviate and impact walls, reducing medication loss while maintaining adequate mixing through the multi-channel structure
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the passage are given different flow characteristics through the divider elements. The dividers create localized flow patterns in each sub-passagement that promote uniform flow and reduce wall impacts, applying local quality improvements to specific flow regions
3Reliability
If medication droplets are suspended in air stream, then delivery to lungs is improved, but turbulence causes droplets to travel at angles and impact walls
Solution Approach 1:
The passage is segmented into multiple sub-passages that guide the aerosol droplet suspension in a more controlled manner. This segmentation maintains droplet suspension in the air stream while preventing turbulent deviations that would cause wall impacts, improving lung delivery without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Divider elements serve as intermediaries that mediate between the aerosol droplet suspension and the passage walls. These dividers maintain the beneficial suspension effect while preventing the harmful wall impacts caused by turbulence, achieving reliable lung delivery
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 solution effectively reduces turbulence, allowing aerosol medication droplets to travel with the air stream, minimizing deposition in the mouth and throat and maximizing delivery to the lungs, thereby improving the efficacy of medication inhalation.
Implementation Method 1
maintain laminar flow of the fluid and maintaining particle suspension in the fluid during fluid flow
Implementation Method 2
turbulence in the fluid stream that directs the travel of the particles at angles to the direction of flow
Implementation Method 3
maintaining particle suspension in the fluid during fluid flow
Implementation Method 4
particles will tend to flow with the stream and the impacting of the particles against the walls defining the flow passage will be reduced
Data Source
AI summary
An air flow device includes a flow passage having opposite ends. The flow passage (30) is divided into a plurality of sequential portions between the ends including an inlet portion (42) extending into the flow passage (30) from an inlet end (34) an outlet portion (36) disposed at the opposite end of the flow passage (30) from the inlet portion (34), and at least one intermediate passage portion (44) between the inlet passage portion and the outlet passage portion. Each of a plurality of divider sets are positioned in a different sequential portion of the passage to divide that passage portion into a predetermined number of additional passages. At least one of the additional passages is smaller than at least one of the preceding passages.