Anne Zimmermann12, Jasmin Podlech1, Christian Wald1 & Georg Fischer2
1Fraunhofer EMFT, Hansastraße 27d, Munich, 80686, Germany
2Chair of Smart Electronics and Systems, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Cauerstraße 7, Erlangen, 91058, Germany
Summary
Vibrating Mesh Nebulizers or inhalers are widely applied in the therapy of respiratory diseases like bronchial asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Moreover, most nebulizers are handheld, comprehensible for patients, and approved for use in a home environment. Nevertheless, the precision of home use inhalers is too low because their reservoir must be completely nebulized often in a continuous mode without any additional dose control. Therefore, improving their dosing precision and dosing time can enable the application of a variety of highly potent therapeutics, such as mRNA or lung cancer medication.
Micro diaphragm pumps offer controllable and precise dosing in microliter range. First investigations show that they are also capable of delivering a drug bolus in a free jet without any contact with the target medium or area. This enables their application in vibrating mesh inhalers. By accurately delivering adjustable boluses, the micro pumps may pioneer the inhalation of medical ingredients with higher potency. Additionally, by free jetting on the vibrating mesh any cross-contamination is avoided, thus delivering and inhaling two different inhalatives at a time becomes a viable option.
The aim of this article is to tailor metal micro diaphragm pumps in a free jetting setup to precisely dose inhalatives onto the mesh of a vibrating mesh nebulizer. Furthermore, an inhaler demonstrator incorporating this setup is built and its feasibility is tested.