Ta. Standaert et al., The equivalence of compressor pressure-flow relationships with respect to jet nebulizer aerosolization characteristics, J AEROSOL M, 14(1), 2001, pp. 31-42
Citations number
34
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Envirnomentale Medicine & Public Health
Journal title
JOURNAL OF AEROSOL MEDICINE-DEPOSITION CLEARANCE AND EFFECTS IN THE LUNG
Manufacturers of aerosolized medications, approved by the Food and Drug Adm
inistration, specify the nebulizer(s) and compressor to be used with their
product, in an attempt to achieve efficacy comparable to that obtained in t
he clinical trials. The need to limit the compressor to that used in the tr
ials has not been investigated in detail. We suggest a technique to determi
ne the equivalency of different compressors such that a chosen nebulizer's
performance is not significantly altered. Aerosol particle size (MMD) was m
easured with a laser; compressor flow and pressure were measured with a mas
s flow meter and pressure gauge, respectively. For all models of nebulizer,
increased flow or driving pressure caused a decrease in aerosol MMD. The f
low resistance of nebulizer models varied, and the flow output of compresso
rs decreased as imposed nebulizer resistance increased. However, for any sp
ecific compressor-nebulizer combination there is a unique flow and pressure
, and the nebulizer generates a given MMD. We demonstrate methods to choose
alternate compressors that may be used to drive a nebulizer and yet keep t
he nebulizer's MMD and performance within predetermined limits. Once an acc
eptable range of variance in a nebulizer's MMD is defined, alternate compre
ssors may be safely chosen. We recommend that these techniques be used by m
anufacturers of medications and of compressors to safely determine the acce
ptability of several rather than a single model compressor to drive a chose
n nebulizer. The techniques assure consistency of the nebulizer's clinicall
y demonstrated performance characteristics.