Dry powder inhaler

• US 6,971,384 B2
• Filed: 02/19/2004
• Issued: 12/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Quadrant Technologies Limited (Vectura Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Quadrant Technologies Limited (Vectura Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ganem, Charles, Chen, Jeffrey, Ligotke, Michael, Gieschen, Andrew W., Greenspan, Bernard
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, MITAL B
• Application Number:
  US10/782,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20040163644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• Field of Search: 128/203.15, 128/203.23, 128/203.12, 128/200.22, 604/58
• US Class Current: 128/203.15
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0008 rotating by airflow
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0031 by bursting or breaking the package, i.e. without cutting or piercing
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0043 Non-destructive separation of the package, e.g. peeling
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0045 using multiple prepacked dosages on a same carrier, e.g. blisters
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0048 the dosages being arranged in a plane, e.g. on diskettes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0086 Inhalation chambers
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/02 with activated or ionised fluids, e.g. electrohydrodynamic [EHD] or electrostatic devices; Ozone-inhalators with radioactive tagged particles
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2202/064 Powder
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/43 making noise when used correctly
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2206/16 Rotating swirling helical flow, e.g. by tangential inflows
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2206/18 Coaxial flows, e.g. one flow within another

Abstract

A dry powder inhaler has a dispersion chamber containing beads. A dose of dry powder is released into the chamber, or into an inlet tangentially joining into the chamber. As the patient inhales on a nosepiece or mouthpiece, air moves circularly through the dispersion chamber to drive the beads. The beads roll, bounce, and collide repeatedly with the drug particles on the chamber surfaces or on the beads. The smaller active drug particles are separated from larger carrier particles and from each other, and a powder aerosol is created and inhaled by the patient. The beads are preferably lightweight, so that they can be rapidly accelerated and moved, even with nominal inspiration. The flow resistance of the inhaler is also reduced via the beads, allowing greater airflow and powder dispersion, without any increased effort by the patient.

Claims

1. An inhaler comprising:

a dispersion chamber having an open central interior;

a bead race in the dispersion chamber;

one or more beads in the dispersion chamber;

an inlet connecting into the dispersion chamber;

an outlet connecting into the dispersion chamber and spaced apart from the inlet; and

a chamber ring extending partially into the bead chamber, for preventing any bead from moving out of the dispersion chamber and into the outlet.

2. The inhaler of claim 1 wherein the dispersion chamber includes an inner wall forming a bead race, and wherein the bead moves around the bead race upon inhalation by the patient.

3. The inhaler of claim 2 wherein the bead race has a radius of curvature greater than a radius of curvature of the bead.

4. The inhaler of claim 2 wherein the dispersion chamber has a flat bottom surface and a flat top surface adjoining the bead race.

5. The inhaler of claim 1 wherein the bead moves around chaotically in the dispersion chamber when a patient inhales on the outlet.

6. The inhaler of claim 1 further comprising a dose platform adjacent to the inlet, for holding a dose of a dry powder pharmaceutical.

7. The inhaler of claim 6 wherein the bead has or acquires a static electrical charge, and particles of the dry powder also have or acquire a static electrical charge of the same polarity, so that the bead and the particles of dry powder repel each other.

8. The inhaler of claim 1 further comprising an obstruction in the dispersion chamber to cause the bead to move chaotically.

9. The inhaler of claim 1 wherein the dispersion chamber comprises a separate component, installable into, and removable from the inhaler.

10. The inhaler of claim 1 wherein a plurality of beads are located in the dispersion chamber, and wherein at least one of the beads includes a discontinuity.

11. The inhaler of claim 10 wherein the bead having the discontinuity is polygonal shaped, and the discontinuity comprises a corner.

12. The inhaler of claim 10 wherein the bead having the discontinuity comprises a sphere with a flat surface.

13. The inhaler of claim 1 further comprising means for providing feedback to the patient based on an airflow rate in the dispersion chamber.

14. The inhaler of claim 1 wherein from 2 to 10 round beads are provided in the dispersion chamber.

15. The inhaler of claim 14 wherein the beads move around the dispersion chamber at 4000–

10,000 rpm.

16. The inhaler of claim 1 wherein the dispersion chamber has a characteristic dimension that is from 4 to 20 times greater than a characteristic dimension of the bead.

17. The inhaler of claim 1 wherein the dispersion chamber has a flat bottom surface and a flat top surface adjoining the bead race.

18. The inhaler of claim 1 with a largest bead in the chamber having a characteristic dimension of at least 50 to 90% of an interior height of the dispersion chamber.

19. The inhaler of claim 1 with the open central interior in the same plane as the bead race.