As current MDIs contain hydrofluorocarbon propellants, it would be beneficial to find ways to reduce carbon emissions without compromising patient safety.

This lab study investigated a way to optimize the modelled lung dose per actuation while at the same time minimizing the carbon emissions from the MDI

Summary:

Presented at DDL 2017 in Edinburgh

• Valved holding chambers are widely prescribed to assist patients receiving inhaled medications by avoiding losses caused by imperfect coordination of inhalation and actuation and also to reduce oropharyngeal deposition.
• Regardless of whether using a solution based formulation (like Qvar) or a suspension formulation (Flovent), the use of a valved holding chamber reduced the amount of medication deposited in the mouth (oropharynx) and increased the potential for lung delivery
• This study can be used to help demonstrate the value of using a valved holding chamber for both solution and suspension formulated metered dose inhalers and for all patient populations, including adults

Expert insights from UK respiratory specialists and school nurses on fall and winter asthma triggers and advancements in asthma care and innovative technologies supporting better management among children and adolescents.

• Results from this study demonstrate a reduction in the proportion of patients requiring COPD/chronic bronchitis related readmission within 30 days and 12 months of the Aerobika^® OPEP device therapy initiation compared to an alternative OPEP device.
• This further supports the use of the Aerobika^® OPEP device as an add-on to usual care to manage COPD/chronic bronchitis patients post-exacerbation and highlights that not all OPEP devices are the same in terms of 30-day and 12-month readmissions

Conclusions:

• The DPI results suggest that inhalation breathing profiles can have an appreciable impact upon aerosol delivery, with one participant having much less predicted medication as fine particles
• In contrast, although the inhalation profiles across all participants were also divergent when asked to inhale from the pMDI + VHC, either tidal breathing or by a slow, deep inhalation, all volunteers would have received a relatively consistent amount of medication.
• It also appears that the pMDI + VHC platform delivers a larger FPM<5.0 µm for both APIs and a consequently smaller coarse particle mass. However, it is recognized that more investigation is warranted with a larger number of volunteers and with other passive DPIs having different resistances

Depending on the pMDI/spacer system chosen the delivery of medication can vary significantly and as a result will have implications on the potential carbon footprint.

In this case, the use of the AeroChamber Plus* Flow-Vu* VHC could potentially reduce the carbon footprint by three fold compared to the alternative spacers.

By maximizing the amount of each puff reaching the lungs the patient is likely to be able to get relief sooner and reduce the amount of puffs needed.

This study was presented at the Drug Delivery to the Lungs Conference, 2022.

PRESENTED AT VIRTUAL ATS 2020

• Evaluations of inhaler use have demonstrated that mishandling of MDIs is commonplace.
• One of the most common errors is the failure to coordinate inhalation with actuation of the inhaler
• One of the reasons why VHCs are often prescribed, is to reduce the severity of this error
• This Functional Respiratory Imaging (FRI) based study assessed the likely severity of a short inhalation delay (from actuation) with an MDI alone and how it contrasted to the use with a VHC

This lab study compared a number of VHCs for patient usability and safety factors. 

The FRI deposition profiles highlighted significant differences between the VHCs on test, with intrathoracic delivery for the AeroChamber Plus* Flow-Vu* VHC system being almost double that of the other two VHC systems and being similar to the MDI alone with perfect coordination

New information regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of different oscillating positive expiratory pressure devices was presented at CHEST 2017 in Toronto, Canada.