LUNG DEPOSITION
What is lung deposition?
INTRODUCTION

Patients with asthma and COPD have pathological changes that affect all parts of the lung.1 To relieve symptoms, bronchodilators are used that target muscarinic receptors or β2-adrenergic receptors that are abundantly present in both larger and smaller airways.2

Lung deposition refers to the proportion of delivered medication that reaches the site of action including the deeper airways. Efficient lung deposition is the primary goal of inhalation therapy and depends on several device and patient factors.3,4

HISTORIC FACT
Efficiency of lung deposition has improved greatly due to innovations in device characteristics and design, from ~10% when using CFC metered dose inhalers (CFC-MDI) to over 50% when using soft mist inhalers (SMI).9,10
KINETIC PROCESSES AND EFFICACY OF LUNG DEPOSITION
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Inhalation simulator based on Demoly et al., 2014.5
The kinetic path of drug particles upon release from the inhalation device is determined by fine particle fraction,
spray velocity, inhalation speed, hand-mouth coordination, airway geography, breath-holding time, etc.
To reach the deeper airways, particles must not be exhaled or impacted in the back of the throat.5-7
CONCLUSION

Efficient lung deposition is essential for inhalation therapy because it allows high pulmonary drug concentrations thereby minimizing side effects.3,4 Whether inhaled drugs reach the site of action, or whether they are exhaled or impacted in the back of the throat, depends amongst others on plume velocity and fine particle fraction (FPF).3,8 To what extend these factors are influenced by the patients respiratory ability depends on the type of device used.9

Curious how this works? Keep an eye on the next scientific communications and get a deeper understanding.

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