Inhaler Lung Deposition in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Summary

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience breathing difficulties because the airways deep in their lungs become narrowed. COPD patients use inhaler drugs to provide relief from breathlessness. However, current inhalers are inefficient as they deliver a 'coarse-mist' of drug-droplets that do not reach the deep airways. In the first part of the study, we will use an inhaler of 'fine-mist' drug-droplets, tagged with a radioactive tracer to track lung deposition in participants with COPD as well as Healthy participants. We will acquire images of the lungs with a gamma camera and calculate the Penetration Index (PI) to see if the fine-mist droplets reach the deep airways, and assess if this improves the breathing capacity in the COPD participants. Our research may allow the development of new, more efficient inhalers to improve treatment for patients with COPD.

Timeline

Start

2012-10-01

Primary completion

2017-11-27

Completion

2017-11-27

Publications

• Background Usmani OS, Biddiscombe MF, Barnes PJ. Regional lung deposition and bronchodilator response as a function of beta2-agonist particle size. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2005 Dec 15;172(12):1497-504. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200410-1414OC. Epub 2005 Sep 28.

Drugs

Indications