Dry Powder Inhaler Manifold for Consistent Medicament Entrainment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dry powder inhalers lack optimal control over air flow and medicament entrainment, leading to inconsistent medicament delivery and potential wastage.
Innovation Solution
The inhaler features a manifold component with independent primary and auxiliary air delivery conduits, allowing for adjustable airflow control and optimized medicament entrainment, and includes a medicament inlet opening positioned near the blister pocket edge to enhance complete dosing and minimize wastage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single air delivery conduit is used in existing dry powder inhalers, then the device structure is simple, but the control over air flow and medicament entrainment is insufficient leading to inconsistent delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The air delivery system is segmented into multiple independent conduits (primary air delivery conduit and auxiliary air delivery conduit) that can be controlled separately. This segmentation allows independent adjustment of airflow parameters to optimize medicament entrainment and delivery consistency without requiring complete redesign of the entire manifold structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The manifold component is designed with adjustable features that allow dynamic control of airflow characteristics. The auxiliary air delivery conduit can be adjusted to provide optimal auxiliary airflow under different operating conditions, enabling the system to adapt to varying inhalation flows and maintain consistent medicament delivery across different users and usage scenarios.
2Loss of substance
If the medicament inlet opening is positioned away from the blister pocket edge, then the air flow path is simpler, but complete dosing is compromised leading to medicament wastage
Solution Approach 1:
The medicament inlet opening is positioned at a specific location (near the blister pocket edge) where the local airflow conditions are optimal for complete medicament pickup. This localized positioning ensures that the airflow directly engages with the medicament dose at the critical interface between the blister pocket and delivery system, maximizing medicament extraction efficiency and minimizing wastage.
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 design ensures consistent medicament delivery, reduces wastage, and improves the efficiency of medicament inhalation by optimizing airflow and entrainment.
Implementation Method 1
the primary air delivery conduit is arranged to deliver the external air received from the primary air inlet opening through the opened blister pocket
Implementation Method 2
the auxiliary air delivery conduit is arranged to deliver the external air received from the auxiliary air inlet opening to a position in the medicament delivery conduit where it can disruptively impact the air-entrained medicament flowing through the medicament delivery conduit
Implementation Method 3
The medicament delivery conduit comprises a constricted section which defines a cross-sectional area that is at least 30%, optionally at least 50%, smaller than each of an upstream and downstream cross-sectional area of the medicament delivery conduit
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are dry powder inhalers for delivering medicament to a user from a blister pack, the blister pack having a plurality of spaced-apart blister pockets containing doses of the medicament. The inhalers comprise: a housing for accommodating unused and used portions of the blister pack together with a dispensing mechanism for selectively opening the blister pockets; and a manifold component through which air can be drawn in use of the inhaler. The manifold component comprises: a primary air inlet opening for receiving first external air; an air outlet opening for providing the external air from the primary air inlet opening into an opened blister pocket, the primary air inlet opening being fluidly connected to the air outlet opening by a primary air delivery conduit formed in the manifold component; a medicament inlet opening for receiving air-entrained medicament from the opened blister pocket, the air outlet opening and the medicament inlet opening being arranged side-by-side to enable simultaneous communication with the opened blister pocket; and a medicament outlet opening for delivery of the air-entrained medicament from the opened blister pocket to the user, the medicament inlet opening being fluidly connected to the medicament outlet opening by a medicament delivery conduit formed in the manifold component. The disclosed inhalers embodiments provide a variety of improvements to the design of the manifold component.