Performance prediction of single dose dry powder inhalers using computational fluid dynamics

Abstract

Much attention has been drawn by inhalation as an effective route of drug administration for the treatment of obstructive lung diseases. The human lung possesses a relatively large surface area in the order of 126 m2 for drug absorption. Drugs are administered by inhalation for two reasons, to increase the desired clinical effect of the drug by direct application where that effect is needed and to reduce undesired side effects. An inhaler is a device for administering vapor or volatilized medication by inhalation. Among the type of inhalers, dry powder inhalers (DPI) are growing in popularity for being easy to use and environmentally friendly. There are two kinds of DPls, single dose inhaler where the drug is to be loaded whenever used and multi dose inhaler which could be used several times without loading the drugs.