New Generation of Nebulisers for Precision Respiratory Drug Delivery

Acu-Flow正在开发一种新的雾化器设备，使吸入精确和有效地将药物输送到肺部。根据世界卫生组织，呼吸系统疾病（如哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺病）是世界上导致死亡和残疾的主要原因。在英国，英国肺脏基金会估计，英国每5个人中就有1人在一生中会受到肺部疾病的影响，每年给NHS带来99亿英镑的费用。这些疾病通常通过吸入气雾剂来治疗，其中药物的有效递送关键取决于液滴尺寸分布。大的液滴会被吸入上呼吸道，而小的液滴则会在被吸收之前被呼出，不会到达患者体内。雾化器主要用于非常年轻和年老的患者，以及肺功能不佳或急性加重的患者。尽管目前最先进的雾化器技术取得了进步，但仍有两个关键的技术限制限制了对患者的益处，即（i）可接受的制剂特性范围有限;以及（ii）相对低效的药物递送。这些限制导致患者需要针对每种药物的特定雾化器，许多患有慢性疾病的个体需要至少两种装置。这可能导致较长的输送时间（例如，患有囊性纤维化的人可能需要20分钟雾化和20分钟清洁设备，每天6次），导致治疗依从性的挑战。Acu-Flow将与格拉斯哥大学和NIHR尊严设备中心合作，开发必要的技术和设计，以提高用户的依从性，并为医疗保健提供者提供有用的数据，从而提高临床效果。该平台采用了一种独特的方法，基于声学、微结构阵列和液体之间的相互作用，将产生的气溶胶中的液滴大小控制在临床有效范围内，并具有经过验证的精确输送能力。该平台已经证明了其雾化各种治疗药物的能力，包括现有药物和新兴的“高价值”生物制剂和纳米药物，这对新的治疗方法至关重要。这项新技术有望为患者、护理人员、临床医生和英国经济带来广泛的社会、经济和健康影响。

Acu-Flow is developing a new nebuliser device to enable inhalation for precise and efficient delivery of medicines to the lungs. According to the World Health Organisation, respiratory diseases (e.g. asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders) are the leading causes of death and disability in the world. In the UK, the British Lung Foundation estimates that 1 in every 5 people in the UK will be affected by a lung disorder during their life with annual costs of £9.9bn to the NHS. These disorders are usually treated by the inhalation of aerosols, where the effective delivery of medication is crucially dependent upon the droplet size distribution. Large drops are caught in the upper respiratory tract, while smaller ones are exhaled before they can be adsorbed - neither reach the patient.Nebulisers are mainly used by very young and old patients, as well as people with poor lung function or in acute exacerbation. They are also becoming important in enabling new drugs for COVID-19 treatment, reshaping the market.Despite advances in the current state-of-the-art nebuliser technology, there are still two key technical constraints that limit the benefits to patients, namely (i) a limited range of acceptable formulation properties; and (ii) relatively inefficient drug delivery. These limitations result in patients needing specific nebulisers for each drug, with many individuals with chronic diseases requiring at least two devices. This can lead to long delivery times (e.g. people with cystic fibrosis can spend 20min nebulising and 20min cleaning the devices, six times/day), leading to challenges in adherence to treatment. It also restricts the adoption of new drugs and vaccines, which have promising potential in treating difficult diseases.Acu-Flow will work with Glasgow University and NIHR Devices for Dignity centre to develop essential technologies and designs to enhance the user-adherence and provide useful data to healthcare providers, enhancing the clinical outcome. This platform uses a unique method, based on the interactions between acoustics, microstructured arrays and liquids, to control droplet size in the aerosols generated, within the clinically effective ranges, with a proven ability to enable precise delivery.The platform has already demonstrated its capability to nebulise a wide range of therapeutics including existing drugs and emerging "high-value" biologics and nanomedicines, which will be critically important in new treatments. This new technology promises broad societal, economic and health impacts for patients, carers, clinicians and the UK economy.