Rotatable Dry Powder Inhaler With Movable Chimney
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dry powder inhalers face challenges in delivering consistent and reliable doses of medicament with particle sizes below 5 microns due to cohesion and agglomeration issues, and in effectively dispersing the medicament throughout the lungs while minimizing deposition in the upper airways and mouth.
Innovation Solution
A dry powder inhaler design featuring a rotatable housing system with a separate axially moveable inhalation chimney and support members, which helps maintain dimensional accuracy, reduces noise, and enhances airflow shielding to ensure efficient delivery of medicament to the lungs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a fixed inhalation chimney is used in the inhaler, then assembly precision is improved, but manufacturing tolerance variations cause dimensional inaccuracies and noise
Solution Approach 1:
The inhalation chimney is designed as a movable component that can shift position axially relative to the housing. This dynamic adjustment allows the chimney to compensate for manufacturing tolerance variations in other components, maintaining proper alignment and airflow paths while reducing noise by allowing thermal expansion and contraction without creating rigid stress points.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the inhalation chimney is made as a separate movable part, then dimensional variations are absorbed, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The inhalation chimney is divided into a first part and a second part that can move relative to each other. The first part connects to the housing while the second part connects to the dosage mechanism, creating an independent movable segment that absorbs dimensional variations without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms or multiple components.
3Reliability
If medicament particles are made small (below 5 microns), then lung delivery effectiveness is improved, but particle cohesion and agglomeration increase
Solution Approach 1:
A pneumatic dispersion system uses a gas stream (typically air) to separate and disperse the medicament particles as they are delivered to the user's mouth. The gas flow creates a pneumatic curtain that prevents particle agglomeration and ensures consistent particle size distribution, improving lung delivery effectiveness while counteracting the natural cohesion of fine particles.
Data Source
AI summary
A dry powder inhaler is disclosed. The dry powder inhaler includes a first housing member and a second housing member being rotatable in relation to one another to prepare administering a medicament dose from at least one medicament reservoir. An air inlet, a first air outlet, and a second air outlet are provided. The air inlet and the first air outlet are connected by a first air channel via a dosage mechanism configured to arrange a dose from the reservoir into the first air channel. The air inlet and the second air outlet are connected by a second air channel. An inhalation chimney is provided internally forming the proximal portion of the first air channel and comprising the first air outlet at a first end thereof.