A human factors perspective on inhaled drug products illuminates a range of opportunities for meeting user needs. This paper will review and outline this range.

Introduction

Over recent years there has been considerable growth in the attention paid to human factors engineering/usability engineering (HFE/UE) on drug/device combination product developments, including OINDPs. This has primarily been focused on ensuring regulatory requirements regarding HFE objectives and process are met.

The potential of the HFE/UE perspective for future inhaler device design, of course, goes beyond this focus on user error, patient safety and regulatory approval. This paper reviews and outlines this broader potential: the different ways in which human factors illuminates opportunities for innovation and improvement of inhaler device design.