DELIVERY DEVICES

• US 20110126830A1
• Filed: 11/28/2007
• Published: 06/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OptiNose, Inc.
• Original Assignee: OptiNose AS (OptiNose, Inc.)
• Inventors: Djupesland, Per Gisle
• Granted Patent: US 9,038,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 128/203.15
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0021 Mouthpieces therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0023 retractable
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0028 using prepacked dosages, one for each application, e.g. capsules to be perforated or broken-up
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0035 Piercing means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0041 with movable piercing or cutting means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0098 Activated by exhalation
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/08 Inhaling devices inserted into the nose
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2202/04 Liquids
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2202/064 Powder
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/073 Syringe, piston type
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2206/16 Rotating swirling helical flow, e.g. by tangential inflows

Abstract

A delivery device for delivering a metered amount of substance, the delivery device comprising: a mouthpiece (17) through which a user in use exhales; an outlet (19) through which substance is in use delivered; a housing (21) fluidly connected to the mouthpiece and the outlet, such, that exhalation by the user through the mouthpiece creates an air flow through the housing and from the outlet; and a substance-dispensing unit (25) which is disposed within the housing and operative to dispense a metered amount of substance into an entraining air flow as created through the housing.

Claims

1. A delivery device for delivering a metered amount of substance, the delivery device comprising:

a mouthpiece through which a user in use exhales;

an outlet through which substance is in use delivered;

a housing fluidly connected to the mouthpiece and the outlet, such that exhalation by the user through the mouthpiece creates an air flow through the housing and from the outlet; and

a substance-dispensing unit which is disposed within the housing and operative to dispense a metered amount of substance into an entraining air flow as created through the housing.

2. The delivery device of claim 1, wherein the substance-dispensing unit includes a baffle member which separates the housing, such as to define an inlet cavity which is upstream of the baffle member and an outlet cavity which is downstream of the baffle member, and supports a container for containing substance which includes an opening which in use opens to the outlet cavity, with the baffle member including at least one entraining air flow channel which is disposed adjacent the container and provides a fluid communication path between the inlet and outlet cavities, such as to provide for delivery of at least one entraining air flow adjacent the opening of the container which entrains substance when dispersed from the container, and a dispersion member which provides for delivery of at least one dispersing air flow into the container to disperse the substance from the container and into the at least one entraining air flow as generated through the at least one entraining air flow channel.

3. The delivery device of claim 2, wherein the baffle member includes a plurality of entraining air flow channels which are disposed about the periphery of the container.

4. The delivery device of claim 3, wherein the entraining air flow channels are arranged on an annulus surrounding the container.

5. The delivery device of claim 4, wherein the entraining air flow channels are arranged symmetrically.

6. The delivery device of claim 3, wherein the entraining air flow channels are configured to provide substantially parallel air flows.

7. The delivery device of claim 3, wherein the entraining air flow channels are configured to provide converging air flows which converge at a location over the opening to the container.

8. The delivery device of claim 2, wherein the dispersion member includes at least one dispersion air flow channel which is configured to provide for at least one dispersing air flow into the container in a direction opposite the at least one entraining air flow.

9. The delivery device of claim 8, wherein the at least one dispersion air flow channel provides for delivery of at least one dispersing air flow at an angle inclined in a vertical orient relative to the opening of the container.

10. The delivery device of claim 8, wherein the at least one dispersion air flow channel provides for delivery of the at least one dispersing air flow with a tangential component in a horizontal orient relative to the opening of the container.

11. The delivery device of claim 8, wherein the dispersion member includes first and second dispersion air flow channels.

12. The delivery device of claim 11, wherein the first and second dispersion air flow channels are disposed to opposite sides of the container.

13. The delivery device of claim 11, wherein the first and second dispersion air flow channels are non-symmetrically arranged.

14. The delivery device of claim 13, wherein the first and second dispersion air flow channels are configured to provide for dispersing air flows which are inclined at different angles in a vertical orient relative to the opening of the container.

15. The delivery device of claim 2, wherein the substance-dispensing unit includes a sleeve member which is disposed in the outlet cavity, such as to define a delivery chamber through which the at least one entraining air flow is in use delivered to the outlet.

16. The delivery device of claim 8, wherein the substance-dispensing unit includes a sleeve member which is disposed in the outlet cavity, such as to define a delivery chamber through which the at least one entraining air flow is in use delivered to the outlet, and the sleeve member further defines a reservoir chamber which is fluidly connected to the inlet cavity and the at least one dispersion air flow channel.

17. The delivery device of claim 16, wherein the reservoir chamber is an annular chamber which surrounds at least in part the delivery chamber.

18. The delivery device of claim 1, wherein the outlet is a nosepiece and the delivery device is a nasal delivery device for delivering substance to the nasal airway of the user.

19. The delivery device of claim 1, wherein the substance is a particulate substance or a powdered substance.

20. A delivery device for delivering a metered amount of substance, the delivery device comprising:

a mouthpiece through which a user in use exhales;

an outlet unit through which substance is in use delivered;

a housing including a cavity which includes an inlet fluidly connected to the mouthpiece and an outlet fluidly connected to the outlet unit;

a piston member which is slideably disposed within the cavity; and

a rupturable membrane which normally fluidly separates the outlet unit from the cavity and defines a gas chamber containing a volume of gas between the piston member and the rupturable membrane;

wherein the piston member is slideably disposed in the cavity under bias of a driving pressure created with exhalation by the user into the mouthpiece, such that, on exhalation by the user, the piston member is driven forwardly to reduce the volume of the gas chamber and thereby provide for compression of the gas contained in the gas chamber, and, following a predeterminable compression of the gas chamber, the rupturable membrane is ruptured, providing for delivery of a gas flow entraining substance through the outlet unit.

21. The delivery device of claim 20, wherein the cavity is an elongate cavity.

22. The delivery device of claim 20, wherein the piston member includes a rupturing element which acts to rupture the rupturable membrane following displacement of the piston member by a predeterminable distance.

23. The delivery device of claim 20, wherein the rupturable membrane is configured to rupture at a predeterminable pressure.

24. The delivery device of claim 20, further comprising:

an enclosed compressible member which is disposed forwardly of the piston member and compressed by movement of the piston member, wherein the compressible member defines the gas chamber and provides the rupturable membrane at a forward end thereof.

25. The delivery device of claim 20, wherein the substance is contained in the gas chamber.

26. The delivery device of claim 20, further comprising:

a further rupturable membrane which together with the first-mentioned rupturable membrane defines a substance-containing chamber containing substance forwardly of the gas chamber, wherein the further rupturable membrane is configured to rupture following rupturing of the first-mentioned rupturable membrane, whereby a gas flow delivered from the gas chamber entrains the substance contained in the substance-containing chamber.

27. The delivery device of claim 20, wherein the outlet unit is a nosepiece and the delivery device is a nasal delivery device for delivering substance to the nasal airway of the user.

28. The delivery device of claim 20, wherein the substance is a particulate substance or a powdered substance.

29. A delivery device for delivering a metered amount of substance, the delivery device comprising:

a mouthpiece through which a user in use exhales;

an outlet unit through which substance is in use delivered;

a housing including a first, piston cavity which includes an inlet fluidly connected to the mouthpiece, a second, substance-containing cavity for containing a metered amount of substance which includes an inlet and an outlet fluidly connected to the outlet unit, and a by-pass channel which includes an inlet fluidly connected to the piston cavity at a location along a length thereof and an outlet fluidly connected to the inlet of the substance-containing cavity;

a piston member which is slideably disposed within the piston cavity; and

a rupturable membrane which normally fluidly separates the outlet unit from the substance-containing cavity;

wherein the piston member is slideably disposed in the piston cavity under bias of a driving pressure created with exhalation by the user into the mouthpiece, such that, on exhalation by the user, the piston member is driven forwardly, causing rupturing of the rupturable membrane, and, following displacement of the piston member forwardly of the inlet of the by-pass channel, an exhalation air flow is delivered through the by-pass channel and the substance-containing cavity, thereby providing for delivery of a gas flow entraining substance through the outlet unit.

30. The delivery device of claim 29, wherein the cavity is an elongate cavity.

31. The delivery device of claim 29, wherein the piston member includes a rupturing element which acts to rupture the rupturable membrane following displacement of the piston member by a predeterminable distance.

32. The delivery device of claim 29, wherein the rupturable membrane is configured to rupture at a predeterminable pressure.

33. The delivery device of claim 29, wherein the outlet unit is a nosepiece and the delivery device is a nasal delivery device for delivering substance to the nasal airway of the user.

34. The delivery device of claim 29, wherein the substance is a particulate substance or a powdered substance.

35. A delivery device for delivering a metered amount of substance, the delivery device comprising:

a mouthpiece unit through which a user can in use exhale;

an outlet unit through which substance is in use delivered;

a substance-supply unit which is actuatable to deliver substance; and

a body unit in which the substance-supply unit is movably disposed between a storage configuration and an operative configuration, in which the substance-supply unit is actuatable;

wherein the mouthpiece unit is coupled to the substance supply unit, such that the substance-supply unit is moved between the storage and operative configurations by the mouthpiece unit.

36. The delivery device of claim 35, wherein the outlet unit is integrally formed with the body unit.

37. The delivery device of claim 35, wherein the mouthpiece unit is at least partially contained within the body unit when the substance-supply unit is in the storage configuration, and withdrawn from the body unit when the substance supply unit is in the operative configuration.

38. The delivery device of claim 35, wherein the body unit comprises a housing which includes a cavity in which the substance-supply unit is slideably disposed.

39. The delivery device of claim 35, wherein the mouthpiece unit is articulated to the substance-supply unit, such as to allow the mouthpiece unit to be folded relative to the outlet unit when the substance-supply unit is in the operative configuration, thereby enabling positioning of the mouthpiece and outlet units to an operative configuration.

40. The delivery device of claim 39, wherein the mouthpiece unit is fluidly connected to the substance-supply unit, such as to provide for actuation of the substance-supply unit in response to exhalation by the user through the mouthpiece unit.

41. The delivery device of claim 40, wherein the mouthpiece unit and the substance-supply unit are configured such that the mouthpiece unit can act as a plunger manually to actuate the substance-supply unit, without requiring generation of an exhalation air flow to actuate the substance-supply unit.

42. The delivery device of claim 35, wherein the outlet unit is a nosepiece and the delivery device is a nasal delivery device for delivering substance to the nasal airway of the user.

43. The delivery device of claim 35, wherein the substance is a particulate substance, a powdered substance or a liquid substance.

44. (canceled)

45. A delivery device for delivering a metered amount of substance, the delivery device comprising:

a mouthpiece unit through which a user can in use exhale;

an outlet unit through which substance is in use delivered;

a substance-supply unit which is actuatable to deliver substance; and

a body unit in which the mouthpiece unit is movably disposed between a storage configuration in which the mouthpiece unit is at least partially contained within the body unit and an operative configuration in which the mouthpiece unit is extended from the body unit.

46. The delivery device of claim 45, wherein the outlet unit is integrally formed with the body unit.

47. The delivery device of claim 45, wherein the body unit comprises a housing which includes a cavity in which the mouthpiece unit is slideably disposed.

48. The delivery device of claim 45, wherein the mouthpiece unit is articulated to the substance-supply unit, such as to allow the mouthpiece unit to be folded relative to the outlet unit when the mouthpiece unit is in the operative configuration, thereby enabling positioning of the mouthpiece and outlet units to an operative configuration.

49. The delivery device of claim 48, wherein the mouthpiece unit is fluidly connected to the substance-supply unit, such as to provide for actuation of the substance-supply unit in response to exhalation by the user through the mouthpiece unit.

50. The delivery device of claim 49, wherein the mouthpiece unit and the substance-supply unit are configured such that the mouthpiece unit can act as a plunger manually to actuate the substance-supply unit, without requiring generation of an exhalation air flow to actuate the substance-supply unit.

51. The delivery device of claim 45, wherein the outlet unit is a nosepiece and the delivery device is a nasal delivery device for delivering substance to the nasal airway of the user.

52. The delivery device of claim 45, wherein the substance is a particulate substance, a powdered substance or a liquid substance.

53. (canceled)

54. (canceled)