Computational modelling of dry powder inhalers for pulmonary drug delivery

Abstract

This chapter introduces the concept of dry-powder inhalers (DPIs) and concentrates on the modeling of one of the inhalers named Aerolizer. It starts with theoretical background and outline of different dry-powder inhalers with the focus on inhaler Aerolizer. A brief overview of particle engineering strategies for pulmonary drug delivery along with a literature review is also given in this chapter. The main focus of this chapter is the modeling of Aerolizer dry-powder inhaler in order to deliver the greatest drug dose to the patient with additional explanation of how some optimizations in inhaler's geometry could provide an increase in pulmonary drug delivery efficiency. The chapter ends with questions that remain open and gives recommendations for future research topics in this field.