Highly reproducible powder aerosolisation for lung delivery using powder-specific electromechanical vibration.

Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) have been in use since the 1970s, but it is only within the past few years that their use has constituted > approximately 10% of the inhaler units sold worldwide. Similarly, active DPIs have been in development for more than a decade, but no active device has yet been approved. Oriel is developing an active DPI technology that uses a very simple physical design coupled with a complex knowledge of powder flow and dispersion characterisation. The DPI uses electromechanical vibration with frequencies determined through the analysis of powder flow properties. Results so far have shown highly reproducible, efficient performance. The technology lends itself to both unit-dose and multidose platforms in a targeted cost-effective DPI.