Droplet device actuation from inhalation sensing
AssigneePneuma Respiratory, Inc.
InventorsLouis Thomas Germinario, John H. Hebrank, Charles Eric Hunter, Jack C. Hunter, Chengjie Li, Christopher W. Maurer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic droplet delivery device includes a housing including a mouthpiece located at an airflow exit side of the housing, a removable fluid reservoir, an aperture plate having a plurality of openings that receives fluid from the reservoir, an electronic actuator that oscillates the aperture plate to generate an ejected stream of droplets, and a sensor operably coupled to trigger the actuator to generate the ejected stream of droplets when a predetermined inhalation flow rate is detected by the sensor.
Claims24
An electronically actuated droplet delivery device comprising:
- a housing including a mouthpiece located at an airflow exit side of the housing;
- a fluid reservoir disposed within or in fluid communication with the housing;
- an electronically actuated aperture plate having a plurality of openings formed through its thickness wherein the aperture plate is in fluid communication with the fluid reservoir;
- an electronic actuator operably coupled to vibrate the aperture plate at a frequency that generates an ejected stream of droplets;
- a sensor operably coupled to trigger the electronic actuator to generate the ejected stream of droplets when a predetermined inhalation flow rate is detected by the sensor;
- and
- a detector positioned at least at one of (a) between an airflow exit of the mouthpiece and the aperture plate and (b) across a face of the aperture plate, wherein the detector is configured to monitor a concentration of a compound in solution within an aerosol plume including the ejected stream of droplets based on optical absorbance specifically associated with the compound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.