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An In Silico Modeling Framework to Predict Particle Dynamics in Dry Powder Inhalers

Feng Y, Zhao J, Haghnegahdar A, Bharadwaj R.

Respiratory Drug Delivery 2022. Volume , 2022: 135-144.

Abstract:

The administration of medicines via inhalation is one of the most common treatments for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Capsule-based dry powder inhalers (DPIs) are widely used to deliver active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) attached to micron-sized carrier particles into the human respiratory system. To evaluate the drug delivery effectiveness of DPIs, a model has been developed based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the discrete element method (DEM) to simulate the agglomeration/deagglomeration, transport, and deposition of carriers and APIs in the DPI flow channel and human respiratory system. In this study, the CFD-DEM model has been applied to evaluate the comparability of a potential generic DPI (Cipla) and Spiriva™ Handihaler™ (SH) (Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany) based on their (1) device delivery efficiencies, (2) emitted aerodynamic particle size distribution (APSDs), and (3) regional lung depositions. The in silico CFD-DEM model potentially provides a demonstration of how to fully utilize in vitro and clinical data in CFD and DEM simulations to obtain new insights into the transport dynamics of APIs in DPIs and lungs, thereby representing a possible approach to reduce the cost of generic product development.