Dry-Powder Inhaler Manifold Airflow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dry-powder inhalers face challenges in maintaining dosing consistency and minimizing the risk of over-dosing, as they can entrain loose medicament from within the inhaler housing, leading to inconsistent delivery of dry-powder medicament doses.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a unitary moulded plastics component for the manifold and housing, with a dedicated air inlet to minimize internal air draw, featuring sequential medicament apertures and airflow diversion holes to control airflow and prevent loose medicament entrainment, along with a dose counter to track dispensed doses and prevent over-dosing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If air is drawn through the inhaler housing to deliver medicament, then the medicament can be delivered to the patient, but loose medicament from within the housing may be entrained leading to dosing inconsistency
Solution Approach 1:
The inhaler is divided into separate functional zones: a medicament storage chamber, a manifold with controlled airflow path, and a mouthpiece. The manifold includes specific airflow inlet and outlet ports that create a directed airflow path through the blister pack medicament source, preventing random entrainment of loose medicament from the housing while ensuring consistent dose delivery.
2Ease of manufacture
If a separate housing and manifold are used, then assembly is easier, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing and manifold are combined into a single integrated component formed as one piece. This integration eliminates the need for separate assembly of these parts, reduces the number of components, simplifies manufacturing, and maintains the functional benefits of controlled airflow while reducing device complexity.
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
This configuration enhances dosing consistency by reducing the risk of internal air entrainment and residual medicament contamination, ensuring precise and controlled delivery of dry-powder medicament, while the dose counter helps patients avoid over-dosing.
Implementation Method 1
The airflow passing through the mouthpiece and the manifold entrains the dry-powder medicament contained within the opened blister pocket, which medicament is delivered to the patient in aerosolised form
Implementation Method 2
The patient then inhales through the mouthpiece to draw air through the manifold from within the body of the inhaler
Data Source
AI summary
An inhaler for delivering dry-powder medicament to a patient from an open blister pocket of a blister pack. The blister pack has a plurality of blister pockets spaced apart in a length direction of the pack and each containing a measured dose of the medicament. The inhaler includes a housing for enclosing used and unused portions of the blister pack together with a medicament dispensing mechanism for opening the blister pockets of the blister pack. The inhaler also includes a manifold through which air can be drawn in use of the inhaler, the manifold including an air inlet for receiving external air, at least one medicament aperture for communicating with an opened pocket of the blister pack to enable entrainment of the medicament by the air drawn through the manifold, and an air outlet for delivery of the entrained medicament to the patient.