Surgery – Respiratory method or device – Means for mixing treating agent with respiratory gas
Patent
1993-04-02
1995-09-05
Asher, Kimberly L.
Surgery
Respiratory method or device
Means for mixing treating agent with respiratory gas
12820319, A61M 1500, A61M 1600, B05D 714, B65D 8306
Patent
active
054471516
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a powder inhaler.
One of the present lines of development in pharmaceutical research is pulmonary administration of medication in the form of a dry powder. The lungs constitute a path for easy interchange between inhaled air and the blood, thereby making it possible for an inhaled substance to pass substantially instantaneously into the blood. The effect of the substance is thus quicker than when the same substance is administered via the digestion or by intramuscular injection. In addition, by comparison with an intravenous injection, which also has very rapid effects, inhalation is much easier to use and gives rise to fewer secondary effects.
Pharmaceuticals already exist in dry powder form, generally mixed with excipients. In contrast, the present invention relates to substances in powder form that are very pure and that are not mixed with excipients, thereby avoiding the secondary effects of excipients. As a result, the quantity of substance to be inhaled is very small, generally of the order of 0.2 mg to 5 mg. Furthermore, such substances must be inhaled in doses that are very accurate: ideally, inhaled dose error should be less than 5% by mass.
Devices enabling medication to be inhaled in powder form already exist in the state of the art: however, the accuracy of the dose inhaled using such devices is of the order of 5 mg: such devices are not suitable. Document FR-A-2 334 424 discloses a propellent gas inhaler that is heavy since it is made at least in part of metal, and its operating life is limited by the supply of propellent gas. The placing of a dose of substance to be inhaled is not very practical, and its mechanism is fragile and delicate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is thus to provide an inhaler enabling good accuracy to be obtained on the inhaled dose, and if possible accuracy of better than 5%; Such an inhaler must also satisfy the following conditions:
it must be cheap;
it must be simple and easy to use;
it must be suitable for being transported in the pocket;
it must optionally be capable of dispensing a large number of doses (up to 200, for example);
it must be usable with minimal user suction (e.g. suction at a rate of 20 to 30 liters of air per minute);
it must protect the powder substance against dampness;
it must make wrong operation impossible, e.g. it must prevent the user inhaling a plurality of doses at once; and
it must enable daily consumption to be monitored so that the user is warned before all of the substance to be inhaled has been used up.
The present invention thus provides a powder inhaler comprising a box in which a suction channel is formed enabling a user to inhale a powder, the inhaler being characterized in that it includes a pusher, actuating said pusher enabling a dose of powder to be brought into a position for being sucked into the suction channel, and the box includes a locking mechanism enabling the pusher to be locked after it has been actuated and to be unlocked while the user is sucking in the dose of powder via channel, thereby enabling the actuating means to be actuated again before the next inhalation. The locking mechanism may include locking means responsive to user suction in the suction channel to release said locking mechanism when a pressure reduction is established in the suction channel.
Advantageously, the locking mechanism is pneumatic, means being provided for creating pneumatic pressure by actuating the pusher, the locking mechanism including a latch that is actuatable by said pressure.
The locking mechanism may be constituted by:
a first piston actuated by the pusher, said piston sliding in a first cylindrical chamber containing air, in such a manner as to compress the air when the pusher is moved towards the box after the pusher has travelled through a certain stroke, said first cylindrical chamber communicating with the outside via an air vent channel when the first piston is in a rest position;
a secondary channel communicating with said first
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Bruna Pascal
Brunet Michel
Asher Kimberly L.
Valois
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