Summary

The following study investigates and compares the effect of aerosol delivery through three different inhalation methods (nose only, mouth only & nose/mouth simultaneously). Typically testing is carried out with inhalation through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, however we were interested in discovering whether a larger quantity of drug was being inhaled via the mouth, or the nose separately using a mesh nebuliser/adapter combination in line with a facemask.

In this study Albuterol was used as a tracer aerosol to measure the drug delivery to both adult patients, with and without asthma. During an asthma attack the muscles around the airways tighten (bronchospasms) and are common in patients with asthma. Albuterol is used as a bronchodilator, relaxing the muscles around the airways which eases chest tightness ^[3]. 

An adult head model (LUCY) was used to simulate both normal adult and asthmatic adult breathing patterns. The nose and mouth tracheal doses were measured separately by blocking the mouth or nose in order to block any aerosol affecting the result.

Results: On completion of testing it was discovered that as the supplemental gas flow increased, the (%) Tracheal dose delivered of the medicinal product decreased. The preferred supplemental gas flow for both normal adult and adult with asthma was 2 LPM. The greatest (%) Tracheal dose delivered for a normal adult was the mouth inhalation method (39.2% ± 0.498%). The inhalation method for the adult with asthma that gave the greatest (%) Tracheal dose recovery was inhalation through the nose (28.305% ± 0.33%)