Plume temperature emitted from metered dose inhalers

The temperature of the drug cloud emitted from a pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) may result in patient discomfort and inconsistent or non-existent dose delivery to the lungs. The effects of variations in formulation (drug, propellant, co-solvent content) and device hardware (metering volume, actuator orifice diameter, add-on devices) upon the temperature of pMDI plumes, expressed as replicate mean minimum values (MMPT), collected into a pharmacopoeial dose unit sampling apparatus (DUSA), have been investigated. Ten commercially available and two development products, including chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) suspensions and hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) solutions or suspensions, were examined together with a number of drug products in late stage development and a variety of HFA 134a placebo pMDIs. Plume temperatures were observed to be lowest in the proximity of the product's actuator mouthpiece where rapid flashing and evaporation of the formulation's propellant and volatile excipients cause cooling. The ability to control plume temperature by judicious choice of formulation co-solvent content, metering volume and the actuator orifice diameter is identified. An ethanol based HFA 134a formulation delivered through a fine orifice is inherently warmer than one with 100% HFA 134a vehicle delivered through a coarse actuator orifice. Of the 10 commercial products evaluated, MMPTs ranged from −54 to +4 °C and followed the formulation class rank order, HFA suspensions < CFC suspensions < HFA solutions. For all systems examined it was possible to raise pMDI plume temperature to that of the ambient surroundings by use of an add-on or integrated spacer device.

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