Ventilator aerosol delivery system with transition adapter for introducing carrier gas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9713687-B2
Application number	US-201313843172-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Aug 21, 2012
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

A transition adapter component of a ventilator aerosol delivery system for delivering an aerosol to a patient, includes a housing having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end having an aerosol passage for receiving an aerosol produced by a heated capillary and a gas connection port for receiving carrier gas from a ventilator, which is in communication with a plurality of gas entry ports within the transition adapter. An inner cavity of the transition adapter receives the aerosol from the heated capillary and the streams of carrier gas from the plurality of gas exit ports within the transition adapter and directs the streams of carrier gas at least partially encircling and in parallel with the aerosol. An exit port on the distal end of the transition adapter housing delivers an entrained aerosol to an aerosol delivery connector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aerosol transition adapter for delivering an aerosolized active agent to a patient receiving ventilation support, the aerosol transition adapter comprising:
a housing having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end having an aerosol passage for receiving an aerosol produced by a source of aerosol comprising an aerosolized active agent and the distal end having an exit port, the housing having a length between the distal end and the proximal end;
a carrier gas connection port configured to receive a carrier gas from a positive pressure gas source, which is in communication with a plurality of carrier gas exit ports, and wherein the plurality of carrier gas exit ports are arranged adjacent to the aerosol passage in a pattern that at least partially encircles a flow of aerosol from the aerosol passage;
a carrier gas conduit connected to the carrier gas connection port, wherein the carrier gas conduit is in communication with the positive pressure gas source; and
an inner cavity, which is adapted to receive the aerosol from the aerosol passage and the carrier gas from the plurality of carrier gas exit ports and to direct streams of carrier gas to at least partially encircle and flow in parallel with a main direction of a flow of the aerosol along the length of the housing toward the exit port, the inner cavity having a proximal portion having a conical inner wall, which extends outward to an inner wall of a distal portion of the inner cavity, and wherein the plurality of carrier gas exit ports are located on the conical inner wall.

2. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of carrier gas exit ports are positioned on the conical inner wall at an equidistance from a center of the aerosol passage.

3. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a cylindrical proximal portion and a cylindrical distal portion, and wherein the cylindrical proximal portion includes the carrier gas connection port configured to receive the carrier gas from the positive pressure gas source.

4. The adapter of claim 3 , wherein an outer diameter of the cylindrical proximal portion is less than an outer diameter of the cylindrical distal portion.

5. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the carrier gas connection port for receiving the carrier gas from the gas source includes at least one gas entry port for receiving the carrier gas, the at least one gas entry port directing a stream of carrier gas to the plurality of gas exit ports.

6. The adapter of claim 5 , wherein the at least one gas entry port comprises at least three gas entry ports, and the plurality of the carrier gas exit ports comprises at least three gas exit ports with a corresponding gas exit port for each of the gas entry ports.

7. The adapter of claim 6 , wherein the at least three gas exit ports are equally spaced around the aerosol passage.

8. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of carrier gas exit ports is approximately 1 to 10 millimeters in diameter and located at approximately a 3 to 20 millimeter radius from a central axis of the aerosol passage.

9. The adapter of claim 1 , wherein the exit port of the transition adapter has an inner diameter of approximately 22 mm to approximately 50 mm.

10. The adapter of claim 1 , comprising:
a flange, which is attached to the proximal end of the housing.

11. The adapter of claim 10 , comprising:
a cavity within the flange, which is configured to be attachable to the source of aerosol.

12. An aerosol delivery system, comprising:
an aerosol generator for producing an aerosol;
a positive pressure generator for producing a pressurized ventilation gas;
a splitter for splitting the pressurized ventilation gas into the carrier gas and a ventilation gas and a conduit from the positive pressure generator to the splitter;
an aerosol transition adapter according to claim 1 and arranged to combine the aerosol produced by the aerosol generator with the carrier gas from the splitter, and which forms an entrained aerosol;
an aerosol delivery connector having a port for receiving the entrained aerosol, a port for entry of the ventilation gas, a patient-aerosol interface port for delivering the entrained aerosol from the aerosol transition adapter and the ventilation gas from the splitter to a patient, and a port for exit of expiration gas from the patient; and
a patient interface for receiving the entrained aerosol and the ventilation gas from the aerosol delivery connector.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a conduit for delivering the entrained aerosol and the ventilation gas from the patient-aerosol interface port to the patient interface.

14. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a humidifier located between the splitter and the aerosol delivery connector for humidifying the ventilation gas before the ventilation gas enters the aerosol delivery connector.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein a ventilation flow tube connecting the splitter to the humidifier is a corrugated tubing having a diameter of approximately 10 to 12 millimeters in diameter with an approximately 15 millimeter conical end connector.

16. The system of claim 12 , comprising:
a fluid trap, which is located between the aerosol transition adapter and the aerosol delivery connector, and wherein the fluid trap is configured to entrap condensed liquid or liquid from the entrained aerosol.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the fluid trap has a capacity of at least 60 milliliters, and an airway through the fluid trap is 15 to 22 millimeters in diameter.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein an aerosol tube connecting the fluid trap to the aerosol delivery connector is a corrugated tubing having a diameter of approximately 10 to 15 millimeters and a length of approximately 40 to 100 centimeters.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the splitter for splitting the pressurized ventilation gas from the ventilator into the carrier and ventilation gas flows is a Wye or Tee fitting.

20. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a source of liquid formulation containing a lung surfactant adapted for delivery as the aerosol to an infant's lungs, and wherein the source of liquid formulation is configured to be delivered to the aerosol generator.

21. The system of claim 12 , wherein the ventilator is configured to supply an inspiratory flow of gas at a flow rate of about 1 to 10 L/min (liters per minute).

22. The system of claim 12 , wherein the aerosol generator is at least one of a heated capillary aerosol generator, a nebulizer, a soft mist generator, a metered dose inhaler, a liquid dose instillation device, and/or a dry powder inhaler.

23. The system of claim 12 , wherein the aerosol generator comprises more than one aerosol generator.

24. The system of claim 12 , wherein the port for exit of expiration gas from the patient is connected to an expiratory tube, which is configured to deliver the expiration gas to the positive pressure generator after passing through a filter.

25. The system of claim 12 , wherein the port for exit of expiration gas from the patient is connected to a source of back pressure.

26. The system of claim 25 , wherein the source of back pressure is a water bath or reservoir.

27. The system of claim 12 , wherein the splitter and the aerosol delivery connector each have a closure, which allows the system to deliver the ventilation gas to

Assignees

• Philip Morris Usa Inc

Inventors

• Leamon James
• Gregory Timothy J
• Mazela Jan
• Henderson Christopher

Classifications

• A61M2206/18

  Coaxial flows, e.g. one flow within another · CPC title

• A61M15/025

  Bubble jet droplet ejection devices · CPC title

• A61M11/005 Primary

  using ultrasonics (spraying or atomising liquids using ultrasonic vibrations in general B05B17/06) · CPC title

• A61M11/042

  electrical · CPC title

• A61M11/041 Primary

  using heaters · CPC title