Assessment of Emergency Spacers Versus Traditional Spacers for Delivery of Aerosolized Drugs

I. Introduction Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects airways and decreases its function. Asthma is the most chronic condition affecting children with increasing prevalence.

Aerosol therapy is the delivery of medication through the inhalation route in the form of fine inhaled particles. Safety is the main advantage of using aerosol, however, there are many limitations related to this route. Among aerosol therapy limitations are low-delivered medication, difficult inhalation techniques of some devices, and patient-related factors. Aerosol-generating devices include nebulizers, dry powder inhalers, and pressurized metered dose inhalers.

Pressurized metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) are comparatively easy to use and effective. Unfortunately, pMDIs have a significant drawback in that they often lead to inadequate or improper use. pMDI spacers are supplementary devices designed to lessen the issues associated with improper pMDI inhaler technique. By minimizing the need to synchronize inhalation with actuation and enhancing inhaler technique in patients utilizing pMDI, spacers provide an advantage by holding big particles that would typically be deposited in the oropharynx inside the spacer and producing a prolonged aerosol cloud of tiny particles to give the patient more time to inhale following actuation, spacers improve drug targeting. Effective medicine delivery to the airways is especially crucial for elderly and young patients.

The material from which the spacer is made affects the total emitted dose of the inhaled medication. The most popular materials for creating plastic spacers are polypropylene and polycarbonate; however, because they are non-conductive, electrostatic charges are encouraged inside the device. Electrostatic reactions between the electrically charged walls of the spacer and the released medication are inevitable since drugs released from pMDIs are likewise electrically charged. When the charged entities repel each other, the drug particles are forced to go toward the spacer's wall, which lowers the dose that is released.

An essential component that influences the functionality of the spacers is electrostatic charge. The majority of add-on devices on the market are composed of non-conductive material, or "non-antistatic spacers," which gradually build a static charge. Consequently, inventions have been developed to provide antistatic spacers in order to address this issue.