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Functional Respiratory Imaging as a Tool to Optimize Regional Delivery of Nasal Aerosols

Mignot B, Vos WG, Van Holsbeke C, De Backer J.

RDD Asia 2018. Volume , 2018: 63-72.

Abstract:

Assessing the deposition of inhaled particles is a challenging task. In vitro particle characterization is often used as a surrogate for lung deposition but does not incorporate the influence of disease and patient performance in the analysis. In vitro deposition analysis in nasal or airway casts following particle recovery or detection by gamma scintigraphy allow for some of this influence to be addressed in the performance evaluation of drug-device combinations. However, both in vitro deposition and gamma scintigraphy studies are complex and expensive.

Deposition evaluations using functional respiratory imaging (FRI) have been used as a cheaper, faster, and more versatile option, and a good correlation between regional deposition patterns derived from FRI has been reported compared to those obtained using gamma scintigraphy.

This paper shows that FRI is a robust tool to evaluate inhaled particle deposition, and demonstrates good correspondence with scintigraphy results irrespective of the delivery method. We also show that FRI is highly sensitive to regional variation in the geometry of the nose which can have an influence on downstream deposition. Collectively, these features make FRI an excellent tool to evaluate drug deposition in the nose and lungs.