Comparison of Collison and De Vilbiss 65 nebulizers in the generation of aerosols for respiratory disease studies.

An electronic particle counting instrument was used to compare aerosols of minimal essential medium and brain heart infusion broth containing 5% fetal bovine serum generated by Collison and De Vilbiss 65 nebulizers. The median diameter of Collison particles was approximately one half (0.8 micron) that of De Vilbiss particles (1.8 micron) at De Vilbiss settings of 3.5, 5.0, 7.0 or 10.0. The average De Vilbiss particle output per minute at these settings (5.0 X 10(6)) was significantly greater (p less than 0.01) than for the Collison (4.0 X 10(6)). Settings below 3.5 produced erratic total output and particle size. More particles were produced by the De Vilbiss from minimal essential medium than from brain heart infusion broth containing 5% fetal bovine serum at a setting of 2.0, whereas median particle size and total output did not vary appreciably between media at settings of 3.5 or greater. Because of these variations, it is suggested that the output characteristics of nebulizers be specified in reports of experimental respiratory disease studies using aerosols.