Use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Dispersion Parameters in the Development of a New DPI Actuated with Low Air Volumes.

Purpose: To determine the predictive power of computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based dispersion parameters in the development of a new inline DPI that is actuated with low volumes of air.

Methods: Four new versions of a dose aerosolization and containment (DAC)-unit DPI were created with varying inlet and outlet orifice sizes and analyzed with results from five previous designs. A concurrent in vitro and CFD analysis was conducted to predict the emitted dose (ED; as a % of loaded dose) and aerosol mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) produced by each device when actuated with 10 ml air bursts. CFD simulations of device operation were used to predict flow field and particle-based dispersion parameters.

Results: Comparisons of experimental and CFD results indicated that multiple flow field and particle-based dispersion parameters could be used to predict ED (minimum RMS Error = 4.9%) and MMAD (minimum RMS Error = 0.04 μm) to a high degree of accuracy. Based on experiments, the best overall device produced mean (standard deviation; SD) ED = 82.9(4.3)% and mean MMAD (SD) = 1.73(0.07)μm, which were in close agreement with the CFD predictions.

Conclusions: A unique relationship was identified in the DAC-unit DPI in which reducing turbulence also reduced the MMAD.