Anthony J Hickey1, James D Holmes2 , Richard D Gold2 & Daniel Deaton3, Gunilla Peterson4,5
1Astartein LLC, 1208 Killington Court, Chapel Hill, NC, 27517, USA
2Ensera Design, 5 Host Street, Bristol, BS1 5BU, UK
3AstraZeneca, 4222 Emperor Blvd, Durham, NC, 27703, USA
4AstraZeneca, Pepparedsleden 1, Mölndal, Gothenburg, 431 53, Sweden
5Inhaled Delivery Consulting AB, Lovartsgatan 13, Malmö, Sweden
Summary
For the purpose of improving adherence and dose monitoring, especially in pediatric patients, two novel sensing devices which connect to existing vibrating mesh nebulizers were developed and evaluated in this feasibility study. The two devices are the “Mask Device”, a capacitive fit-sensing facemask add-on, and an “Air Pathway Device”, an inspiratory flow rate and infrared aerosol density sensor that fits between the mask and the nebulizer. Algorithms were developed that ran in real-time on the devices, providing the metrics on a breath-by-breath basis. The device was evaluated on a child-size face model, modified to enable capacitive sensing, with representative pediatric breathing patterns supplied by a Copley breathing simulator.
The specific findings of these studies include the evaluation of the sensors’ individual performance (mask fit, flow rate and aerosol density), the combination of these to calculate aerosol dose over the treatment duration and the adaptation of these sensors to a child’s mask size and breathing pattern.