Inhalation Therapy Device With Intermittent Aerosol Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing inhalation therapy devices with membrane aerosol generators struggle to variably control the delivery rate of aerosolized liquid without compromising aerosol quality, particularly in cases requiring longer therapy sessions or precise dosing, which can lead to irritation, overdose, or inefficiencies in drug delivery.
Innovation Solution
The aerosol generator is supplied with an alternating control signal in short, intermittent intervals (10 ms to 350 ms ON and 10 ms to 500 ms OFF phases), allowing for adjustable total output rate by altering the duty cycle of these intervals, ensuring consistent aerosol quality and compensating for production and aging-related fluctuations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the aerosol generator is operated continuously to maintain high productivity, then the total output rate is high, but the therapy session duration becomes unacceptably long and patient burden increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by switching the aerosol generator on and off in synchronized intervals with the patient's breathing cycle. The generator operates during inhalation phases and remains off during exhalation phases, creating a periodic delivery pattern that matches respiratory rhythm. This approach maintains high average productivity while effectively distributing the therapy over time, preventing continuous exposure fatigue and making longer therapy sessions tolerable for patients.
2Productivity
If the liquid delivery rate is increased to shorten therapy duration, then productivity improves, but the risk of irritation and overdose increases
Solution Approach 1:
By implementing periodic operation synchronized with breathing cycles, the patent delivers aerosol only during inhalation phases when the airways are open and ready to receive medication. This timing prevents aerosol accumulation and overexposure that would occur with continuous high-rate delivery, thereby reducing the risk of airway irritation and overdose while maintaining therapeutic effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback by monitoring the patient's breathing pattern and using this information to control the aerosol generator's operation. The control unit detects inhalation and exhalation phases and adjusts the generator's on/off states accordingly, ensuring that aerosol delivery is always synchronized with the patient's respiratory needs. This feedback mechanism prevents overdose by automatically reducing or stopping delivery when the patient is exhaling.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the aerosol generator is switched off during exhalation phases to reduce delivery rate, then the risk of overdose decreases, but the total therapy time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The periodic operation mode synchronizes aerosol delivery with the patient's natural breathing rhythm, operating during inhalation phases and pausing during exhalation phases. This approach effectively extends the overall therapy session duration by utilizing the full breathing cycle, but it prevents overdose by ensuring aerosol is delivered only when the patient is actively inhaling. The extended duration is offset by the efficiency of targeted delivery during productive inhalation phases.
4Quantity of substance
If the control signal intervals are shortened to reduce aerosol delivery, then the dose is reduced, but the aerosol quality may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The periodic control signal delivery maintains aerosol quality by providing sufficient energy input during each ON phase to generate high-quality respirable droplets. The intervals between signals are synchronized with breathing cycles rather than being arbitrarily shortened, ensuring that each activation period is long enough to produce consistent droplet sizes in the 0.1 to 10 μm range while still reducing the total dose through reduced frequency of activation.
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 approach enables precise control over the aerosol delivery rate without deteriorating aerosol quality, allowing for variable therapy durations and accurate dosing, including in sensitive applications like neonatal treatment and lung diagnostics, while maintaining high-quality aerosol droplets in the 0.1 to 10 µm range.
Implementation Method 1
The vibration generation device is a piezoelectric oscillator to which a control signal is applied, causing the piezoelectric oscillator to vibrate. Since the piezoelectric oscillator is connected to the membrane, the membrane is also set into vibration, so that a liquid present on one side of the membrane is conveyed through the openings in the membrane and released on the other side of the membrane in the form of an aerosol.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention relates to an inhalation therapy device having an aerosol generator (1) comprising a membrane (2) that creates fluid droplets from fluid present on one side and gives off said droplets as an aerosol on the other side when the membrane is vibrated, and furthermore, a vibration creation arrangement (3) that is connected to the membrane such that the membrane is vibrated when the vibration creation arrangement is stimulated to vibrate in the activation phases of the aerosol generator by a supplied activation signal. An activation device (10) that is connected to the vibration creation arrangement is designed to supply an activation signal to the vibration creation arrangement (3) in the activation phases (Ex) of the aerosol generator (1), in particular an alternating voltage at several successive intervals (I1...In) spaced apart from one another.