Respiratory drug delivery to targeted lung lobes

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20382873

Pulmonary drug delivery is the preferred route of drug administration for many respiratory diseases. Drug delivery devices like inhalers are convenient to use and can archive a therapeutic effect with lower drug concentration when compared to the other routes of administration. Drug delivery to the targeted lung lobes have been investigated in the literature and recent research indicates that it could potentially be very effective for treating localized lung disorders. Moreover, latest studies have demonstrated that it may be possible to target specific lung lobes for drug delivery with predetermined particle size, particle release position, and inhalation pattern. Nevertheless, these experiments did not include the drug delivery devices in the simulations and failed to address how the current inhaler design needs to be modified to achieve targeted drug delivery. Therefore, there is a need to demonstrate the feasibility of targeted lung lobe drug delivery by modelling an interaction between the drug delivery device with the respiratory system and exploring opportunities for targeted lung lobe drug deposition.