Aerosol delivery equipment used to administer inhaled medications includes the nebulizer, positive expiratory pressure devices added to the nebulizer, and valved holding chambers (spacers). These devices are semi-critical medical devices, and as such, infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines recommend that they be cleaned, disinfected, rinsed with sterile water, and air-dried. There is...

BACKGROUND Ribavirin is an antiviral drug that can be administered by inhalation. Despite advancements in the oral delivery of this medication, there has been a renewed interested in delivering ribavirin via the pulmonary system. Although data are not conclusive that inhaled ribavirin improves outcomes, we set out to determine whether delivery by a newer generation nebulizer, the vibrating mesh...

The in vitro characterization of device-related parameters such as the rate of aerosol output, total aerosol output, particle size, and fine particle fraction, is essential when assessing the potential performance of a nebulizer or making comparisons with other nebulizers as they are indicative of potential clinical performance. This article reviews a number of in vitro studies designed to char...

PURPOSE To describe a method of drug delivery to the retina via aerosolized nanoparticles in the gas phase during the gas-exchange stage of vitrectomy in a porcine model. METHODS An ultrasonically atomized and dried sodium fluorescein aerosol was produced with a concentration of 12 ng/mL and a mass median particle size of 407 nm. Eighteen porcine eyes were randomly divided into six groups and...

The delivery of an aerosolized drug to a child is a complex process requiring an interaction between parent, child, and inhalation device. Recent studies have shown that the facemask can be a key factor affecting aerosol delivery, particularly the influence of leaks between the facemask and the face. To further quantify these effects and design around them, we have developed a bench model consi...

Inhalation therapy has matured to include drugs that: (1) deliver nucleic acids that either lead to the restoration of a gene construct or protein coding sequence in a population of cells or suppress or disrupt production of an abnormal gene product (gene therapy); (2) deliver peptides that target lung diseases such as asthma, sarcoidosis, pulmonary hypertension, and cystic fibrosis; and (3) de...

Aerosol therapy, the preferred route of administration for glucocorticosteroids and short-acting beta(2)-adrenergic agonists in the treatment of paediatric asthma, may be given via nebulisers, metered-dose inhalers and dry powder inhalers. For glucocorticosteroids, therapy with aerosolised medication results in higher concentrations of drug at the target organ with minimal systemic side effects...

The development of aerosol medicines typically involves numerous tests on animals, due to the lack of adequate in vitro models. A new in vitro method for testing pharmaceutical aerosol formulations on cell cultures was developed, consisting of an aerosolisation unit fitting a commercial dry powder inhaler (HandiHaler(c), Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany), an air-flow control unit (Akita(c), Activa...

BACKGROUND The advent of novel treatments such as aerosolized amiloride are potentially useful additions to the therapeutic options available for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. Unfortunately, amiloride and other aerosolized drugs such as antibiotics are generally administered via jet nebulisers which are time consuming to use, and thus limit the acceptance and efficacy of these forms of trea...

Although oral and injectable drug formulations still dominate the market, interest in pulmonary delivery has been rising steadily. Given patients' desire for an alternative to injections, and recent advances in aerosol science and pulmonary medicine, the potential for improved disease management outcomes by using aerosols for systemic drug delivery should lead the way for a shift to inhalables.