IE38212B1 - Device for the inhalation of medicaments - Google Patents

Abstract

1404338 Administering medicines BEECHAM GROUP Ltd 2 Aug 1973 [4 Aug 1972] 36428/72 Heading A5T A device for the oral inhalation of finely divided solid medicaments comprises a hollow housing and a capsule holder fixed to an elongated vibratable member which is fixed at one end within the housing at a point remote from the capsule holder, the housing having inlet and outlet vents permitting air to flow through the housing, and means causing the member to vibrate, the outlet vents being adapted for application to or insertion into the mouth, and positioned such that the finely divided medicament is carried through the outlet vents at the intake of breath by the user of the device. As shown in Fig. 1, a hollow, generally cylindrical housing 1 has a flat reed 4 mounted on a projection 5 at the end of the housing. A capsule 3, containing finely divided medicament, is held in a holder 2 at the other end of reed 4. In use, the patient inhales at the outlet vents 7, so that air flows in through vents 6 to baffles 8 in the body and baffle 9 on reed 4. The baffles 8, 9 are arranged with a small gap between them, so that turbulence occurs in their vicinity. The reed is vibrated, and powder is shaken out of the capsule, which is pierced for the purpose, before loading or in situ. A constriction 10 is formed near the capsule to provide for low pressure to help disperse the powder. The housing 1 is made in two parts, with screw threads or a snap fastening at X, for placing the capsule in holder 2. Vents 6 may be omitted and air enters by a single vent or opposed vents in the side of the housing, co-operating with the reed or baffles mounted on opposite sides of the reed parallel to the housing walls. Vents 7 may be replaced by a plug drilled with a hole which has a cross-sectional area approximately equal to the area of the annular gap between a side vent and the reed at their greatest separation. In another embodiment, Fig. 6, air enters by tangential vents 406 (see also Fig. 7, not shown), and a vent 406a. A piercing member 421 slides coaxially in housing 401. As the patient inhales through the vent 407, a vortex is formed around holder 402, which rotates orbitally and strikes the inside of housing 401 successive light blows. Air is also drawn through vent 406a, passing partly through passage 417 and through capsule 403, adding to the turbulence. Consequently, powder issues from the capsule in a helical path. Lighter particles are inhaled through the vent 407; heavier particles whirl round in a trough 422 surrounding vent 407 until they are abraded to a size such that they also pass out through vent 407. The vibrating rod may be mounted on a spring-biassed pushbutton, and the capsule impaled on a hollow piercing member of the holder, so that it may be pushed on to a second piercing member by pressing the button. Where the patient is unable to suck sufficiently hard, his efforts may be supplemented by a rubber squeeze bulb. [GB1404338A]