Functional Respiratory Imaging of the Developing Airways, from Newborns to Adult

Wim Vos, FluidDA, Belgium

Delivering aerosol into the lung of a growing child is a challenge that includes much more variables as performing the same task in adults. Next to the difficulties in young children to comply to the exact instructions of use of inhalation therapies, there are many factors that do play a role in the resulting delivery of the aerosol into the lung. With the early inhalation therapies, the biggest challenge in children was to make sure that ‘some’ drug was reaching into the lungs [Respiratory Care June 2004, 49 (6) 653-665;]. But even with a very low nominal dose delivering into the lungs, the dose delivered per kilogram body weight drug delivery to the lungs is generally similar or greater than in adults [Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 55 (2003) 869–878]. Furthermore, at present many inhalers are performing so well that one might even start worrying more about the possible risks of overdelivering drugs into the lungs, and hence causing possible safety issues.