Marion Blayac1, Carolina Dantas2, Mathias Binder2, Asad Khan2, Ulf Krüger2, Otmar Schmid1
1 Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC-M) / Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Center Munich, Member of German Center for Lung Research, 85764 Neuherberg/Munich, Germany
2 Pulmotree Medical GmbH, 80797 Munich, Germany
Summary
In the context of precision inhalation therapy, variability in the dose deposited in the lungs of different patients hampers the reproducibility of therapeutic effects. This study presents the concept of an innovative in silico inhalation platform (APEX) aiming to predict real-time, patient-specific pulmonary drug deposition using guided inhalation data monitored in real time.
As a proof of concept, we developed a prototype in silico model for prediction of regional drug deposition in the lungs of healthy young male adults. The prototype is based on an optimised set of equations for pulmonary regional aerosol deposition. It has been developed using data generated by the validated Multiple-Path Particle Dosimetry (MPPD) aerosol lung deposition model mapping the entire range of therapeutically relevant breathing profiles.
The protype model accurately predicted pulmonary regional deposition and depicted the expected differences in deposition between breathing profiles in healthy lungs. For example, a deep, slow inhalation profile was found to favour deposition in the deep part of the lungs (i.e the alveolar region), whereas a shallow, fast inhalation profile favoured deposition in the tracheobronchial region.
As the prototype model currently developed has only been validated for healthy young male adults, our intention is to use it as a foundation for deriving further equations to be applicable to different age, sex and disease groups. The most optimised and validated model will ultimately be integrated into the APEX platform enabling real-time prediction of aerosol deposition efficiency and targeted, personalised pulmonary drug dosage.